31  youthful 


—Sfiaelay 


A  TRUE  STORY  OF  THE  NAVY 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


A  YOUTHFUL 
MAN-O'-WARSMAN 


A  YOUTHFUL 
MAN-O'-WARSMAN 


From  the  diary  of  an  English  lad  (a  protege  of  the 
duchess  of  the  fifth  Duke  of  Marlborough)  who 
served  in  the  British  frigate  Macedonian  during  her 
memorable  action  with  the  American  frigate  United 
States;  who  afterward  deserted  and  entered  the  Amer 
ican  Navy,  was  recaptured  by  the  British  and  con 
fined  in  a  South  African  prison  and,  on  being  re 
leased,  again  enlisted  in  the  United  States  Navy 


BY 

EDGAR    STANTON    MACLAY 

Author  of  A  History  of  the  United  States  Navy,  A  History 
of  American    Privateers,    Reminiscences    of  the    Old 
Navy,    Life    and   Adventures  of  Admiral  Philip, 
Life    of   Captain    Moses    Brovan,    U.  S.  N.; 
Editor  of  the  Journal  of  William  Maclay 
(U.  S.  Senator  from    Pennsylvania, 
1789-1791),  Editor  of  the  Diary  of 
Samuel  Maclay  (U.  S.   Sen 
ator  from  Pennsylvania, 
1803-1809) 


GREENLAWM,  N.  Y. 

GGMPAN^Y 

1910 


The  Registered  Number  of  this  copy  is  No.- 


A 


COPYRIGHT,  1910,  BY 

NAVY    BLUE    COMPANY 


To  the  Memory  of 

Rear  Admiral  Sir  Edward  Chichester,  R.  N. 

As  an  Expression  of  American  Appreciation  for  His 

Very  Handsome  Conduct  in  Manila  Bay 

May  3  to  August  24,  1898 

This  Work  is  Respectfully  dedicated 


226384 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
PREFATORY.  pAGE 

Neglect  of  the  enlisted  man — Brave  but  not  given 
to  writing — Leech  a  typical  man-o'-warsman — 
Rear  Admiral  Mahan's  testimony  of  the  value 
of  Leech's  diary— A  protege  of  the  Duchess  of 
Marlborough — Importance  of  the  1812  frigate 
actions — A  revolution  in  naval  warfare 15 

CHAPTER  II. 

WANSTEAD  AND  BLENHEIM. 

Boyhood  of  Samuel  Leech — Narrow  escape  from 
death — The  Turner  sailor  boys — Visit  to  West 
India  Docks — Life  at  Blenheim — In  the  Duke 
of  Marlborough's  employ — Winter  tales  of  the 
sea — Lady  Spencer  interests  Lord  Fitzroy  in 
young  Leech— "I  will  take  that  boy  under  my 
personal  care "  21 

CHAPTER  III. 
ABOARD  THE  MACEDONIAN. 

Village  interest  in  the  new  Powder-monkey — A 
deluge  of  advice — Off  for  Gravesend — Buying 
a  sailor  suit,  "a  prayer-book,  a  Bible  and  a 


6  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

pack  of  cards  " — Enlisted  "  for  life  " — First  ex 
periences  aboard  a  frigate — A  poor  Irish  lad — 
Scenes  at  Lisbon — The  wardroom  steward  de 
serts — A  brutal  murder — Execution  of  a  Portu 
guese  criminal — Murder  of  the  sergeant  of 
marines — Prompt  execution  of  the  murderers — 
Honorable  discharge  arrives  just  too  late 32 

CHAPTER  IV. 
LIFE  ABOARD  A  FRIGATE. 

Division  of  labor  in  a  frigate  in  1810 — Peculiar  duty 
of  the  "  boys  " — Arrangement  of  the  "  messes  " 
— Food  and  grog  allowances — The  brutality  of 
flogging — "  Three  hundred  lashes  through  the 
fleet  for  stealing  a  handkerchief" — "A  crawl 
ing,  servile,  cringing  slave" — A  shocking  illus 
tration—  "  Happy  Jack"  arrives  and  cheers  the 
men  .  43 


CHAPTER  V. 
LIVELY  INCIDENTS  ABOARD. 

In  search  of  the  French  fleet — Rescuing  the  ship 
wrecked — A  breach  of  discipline — Lord  Fitzroy 
cashiered — Recapturing  a  deserter — Impressing 
seamen — Leech  becomes  an  involuntary  deserter 
— It  happens  a  second  time — Narrow  escape 
from  the  lash — The  Macedonian  nearly  founders 
in  a  terrific  gale — Leech  dangerously  injured  by 
the  wardroom  steward — In  the  Sick  Bay — A 
grewsome  burial — "  My  turn  next?  " 54 


CONTENTS.  7 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  VI. 
CAPTAIN  GARDEN'S  DISCIPLINE. 

A  band  of  musicians  aboard  the  frigate — The  "  sea- 
musician's  lot  not  a  happy  one  " — "  Man  over 
board  !"— The  rescue— A  midnight  call  to  "Clear 
ship  for  action" — Wives  of  seamen  aboard — 
Two  births  in  one  week — Bob  Hammond  gets 
drunk  again — Jack  Sadler  attempts  to  escape — 
Bob  and  his  "  horn  o'  malt " — Bob  is  "  per 
mitted  "  to  desert  65 

CHAPTER  VII. 
FORESHADOWING  A  GREAT  BATTLE. 

A  trip  across  the  Atlantic  to  Norfolk,  Va. — Pleasure 
of  hearing  the  English  language — Not  permitted 
to  go  ashore — Decatur  and  Garden  exchange 
visits — Joking  about  a  possible  battle  between 
their  respective  frigates — Return  trip  across 
the  Atlantic — Homeward  bound — Joyful  antici 
pations — Arrival  at  Plymouth — Off  for  the 
French  coast — Capture  of  escaped  French  pris 
oners — Cutting-out  expeditions  off  Brest — A 
rich  prize  75 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
A  MOMENTOUS  NAVAL  BATTLE. 

Importance  of  the  1812  frigate  actions — Value  of 
Leech's  account  of  the  battle  between  the 
United  States  and  Macedonian — European  crit 
icism  of  the  early  American  frigates — American 


8  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

44-gun  frigates  were  overweighed — The  de 
fect  remedied — Admiralty  compelled  to  imitate 
American  models — English  admissions  of  the 
superiority  of  American  naval  construction — 
Confidence  among  the  Macedonians 85 

CHAPTER  IX. 
IN  BATTLE'S  AWFUL  DIN. 
{Leech's  own  narrative.) 

Keeping  the  news  of  war  against  America  from 
the  Macedonians — Escorting  a  huge  East  India- 
man  to  Madeira — Garden's  anxious  inquiries — 
A  shark  that  was  kept  busy — A  beautiful  Sab 
bath  morn—"  Sail  ho  !  "— "  What  does  she  look 
like  ?  " — Macedonians  in  "  high  spirits  " — Amer 
icans  in  the  Macedonian  compelled  to  fight 
against  their  flag — Poor  John  Card — Grim 
preparations  for  the  fight — Opening  shots — A 
strange  noise — "The  whole  scene  grew  inde 
scribably  confused  and  horrible  " — Cries  of  the 
.  wounded — Havoc  among  the  Macedonian's 
boys—"  That  shark !  "—Revolting  scenes—"  A 
slaughter  house  " — Dreadful  carnage 92 

CHAPTER  X. 

SCENES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 

{Leech's  narrative  concluded.") 

"Our  men  fought  like  tigers" — "Well  done,  my 
boy  " — Death-dealing  splinters — A  complete 
wreck — Council  of  war — "Let  us  sink  along- 


CONTENTS.  9 

PAGE 

side  " — Surrender — A  sad  spectacle — Cockpit, 
steerage  and  wardroom  crowded  with  wounded 
— "  Smeared  with  blood  from  head  to  foot " — 
"How  do  you  do,  doctor?" — Heart-rending 
scenes — No  time  for  refined  surgery — Survivors 
break  into  the  spirit-room — Killed  by  ill-ad 
vised  kindness — Unceremonious  burials — Sur 
geons  work  all  night— "  Bled  to  death"— 
Cleaning  up — Decatur's  magnanimity — "  Away 
Wagoners,  away !  "  105 

CHAPTER  XL 
TRIUMPHANT  RETURN  TO  PORT. 

Astonishing  disproportion  of  losses — Comparative 
forces — Effect  of  the  news  in  London — " Sed 
tempora  mutantur" — The  "Thunderer's"  rage 
— "Our  sea-spell  is  broken !" — Arrival  in  Amer 
ica — Kindness  to  prisoners — Prisoners  escape 
from  a  barn — Showing  visitors  over  the  cap 
tured  frigate — That  "bright  English  lad" — 
Hoisting  the  ladies  aboard — A  scheme  to  desert 
— Leech  and  Day  take  a  big  risk — Safe  landing 
on  American  soil — Kind  treatment  at  a  tavern — 
Sleeping  in  a  bed  again 118 

CHAPTER  XII. 
TRIALS  OF  A  DESERTER. 

Arrival  in  New  York — Meeting  other  deserters — 
The  banquet  of  victory — "  Save  the  pieces  " — 
Decatur's  appearance  at  the  theater — Foxy  old 
tars  make  successful  appeals  to  Mrs.  Decatur — 


lo  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

"Don't  preach  about  the  king  but  about  Con 
gress  " — Enlisting  in  the  United  States  navy — 
Embarrassing  questions — A  tell-tale  button — A 
brief  stay  in  Salem,  Mass. — Narrow  escape  of  a 
fishing  party — Leech  ships  in  the  Siren — A 
singular  head-gear  130 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
SIREN'S  LIVELY  CRUISE. 

In  company  with  the  Grand  Turk — Death  of  Cap 
tain  Parker — His  coffin  floats — On  the  African 
coast — Trading  with  the  natives — Inestimable 
value  of  water — "  Some  drank  sea  water " — 
Hot  chase  by  a  British  frigate — Saved  by  a 
shrewd  Yankee  trick — "  The  Battle  of  Senegal  " 
— An  unlucky  broadside — Tricked  by  an  Eng 
lishman — A  rich  prize — Burning  the  Barton — 
An  African  prince  ships  in  the  Siren — A  tyran 
nical  gunner — Leech  "gets  square"  with  him — 
A  new  lock  on  the  door 141 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
PRISONERS  OF  WAR. 

Precautions  against  recapture — Sailing  for  America 
— "  Sail,  ho  " — Chased  by  a  huge  seventy-four — 
Throwing  overboard  guns  and  ammunition — 
Overhauled  and  captured — Danger  of  detection 
— Arrival  at  Simon's  Bay — A  painful  land 
march  in  burning  sands — Arrival  in  the  Cape 
Town  prison — Life  in  the  prison — "  Curing  " 


CONTENTS.  1 1 

PAGE 

a  tyrannical  officer — "That  Dutchman  Ba- 
diem  " — A  kind-hearted  old  general — Leech  be 
comes  ill — In  the  Cape  Town  hospital — Cured 
of  feigning  illness 154 

CHAPTER  XV. 
UNDER  THE  HALTER'S  SHADOW. 

An  over-bearing  prison  surgeon — Prisoners  mutiny 
— "  Fire  away ;  it  will  be  our  turn  next !  " — A 
Dutch  wedding — Kindness  of  an  English  mis 
sionary — "  He  shot  away  my  colors  " — Trans 
portation  to  England  fraught  with  peril — A 
terrible  fright — "  Your  master  wants  you  " — 
Arrival  in  England — Prisoners  paraded  before 
thousands  of  English  officers  and  sailors  to  de 
tect  deserters — A  narrow  escape — A  mother 
unwittingly  betrays  her  son  to  the  halter — In 
mortal  fear  of  discovery 166 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
HOMEWARD  BOUND. 

Sailing  for  America — Counterfeit  money — Many 
resolutions  to  quit  the  sea  and  become  farmers 
— A  terrific  storm — A  night  of  terror — Arrival 
in  New  York — Leech  ships  in  the  Boxer — Cap 
tain  Porter's  discipline — Leech  settles  in  Con 
necticut — Becomes  a  peddler  and  afterward  a 
merchant — Joins  the  church  and  marries — A 
letter  from  his  mother — Revisits  the  Mace 
donian  178 

2 


12  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
AGAIN  AT  BLENHEIM. 

A  long  postponed  trip  to  England — Arrival  in 
Liverpool — A  thoroughly  "  engrafted "  Ameri 
can — "Innumerable  beggars  and  vagrants" — 
Affecting  meeting  with  his  mother — Visiting 
friends  of  his  boyhood — Final  parting  with  his 
mother — A  tempestuous  return  passage  of  sev 
enty-five  days  to  America — Death  of  Samuel 
Leech  in  1848 190 

INDEX   .  197 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

"Three  Cheers  for  the  Stars  and  Stripes  ".  .frontispiece 

Model  of  an  American  44-gun  frigate 18 

A  pressgang  at  work 36 

Flogging   48 

A  boat  putting  off  from  an  English  war  ship 56 

English  naval  officers  dining 78 

A  midnight  boat  attack 84 

The  United  States  raking  the  Macedonian 96 

Carrying  a  wounded  British  officer  below 102 

View  of  an  English  cockpit 109 

An  1812  powder-boy  carrying  cartridges 122 

An  American  man-o'-warsman  in  1812 136 

Medway  chasing  the  Siren 156 

View  of  a  gundeck  in  an  English  line  of  battle  ship.  172 

Deck  scene  in  a  large  English  war  ship  in  1814 176 

An  American  44-gun  frigate  riding  out  a  gale 182 


CHAPTER  I. 
PREFATORY. 

Too  little  is  known  by  the  American  public 
to-day  of  the  trials,  privations  and,  in  many  in 
stances,  indescribable  hardships  endured  by  the 
enlisted  men  who  so  gallantly  manned  and  fought 
our  armed  craft  in  the  war  of  1812.  While  too 
much  praise  cannot  be  given  to  our  officers  for 
the  splendid  work  they  did  while  in  charge  of 
these  ships,  the  "  men  behind  the  guns "  who 
bore  the  heat  of  the  day  and  the  brunt  of  the 
battle  seem  to  have  been  forgotten. 

Not  that  this  neglect  of  the  enlisted  man  was 
in  any  way  intentional.  It  was  the  logical  result 
of  unavoidable  conditions.  Brave,  daring  and 
patriotic  as  our  men-o'-warsmen  early  in  the 
last  century  unquestionably  were,  they  were  not, 
as  a  rule,  given  to  letters.  Their  education  as 
seamen  was  superbly  practical  but  seldom  aca 
demic.  They  had  no  official  reports  to  pen  and, 
in  view  of  the  cumbersome  process  of  chirog- 
raphy  in  those  days,  it  is  not  strange  that  Jack 
neglected  to  record  in  black  and  white  the  noble 
part  he  played  in  our  "  second  war  for  inde- 


1 6  PREFATORY. 

pendence  " ;  and  the  inevitable  result  was  that  the 
great-hearted  American  public  for  nearly  a  cen 
tury  has  remained  scarce  acquainted  with  his 
magnificent  achievements. 

It  is  for  these  reasons  that  the  diary  of  Samuel 
Leech,  who  took  an  active  part  as  an  enlisted 
man  all  through  this  war,  becomes  especially 
valuable.  In  1843  ms  diary  was  privately  printed 
and  a  few  copies  were  circulated  but  .the  volume, 
long  since,  has  been  out  of  print.  In  all  his 
extensive  researches  the  writer  has  discovered 
only  one  copy  so  that  the  present  work  may  well 
be  considered  "  new  material."  To  the  courtesy 
of  the  Hon.  William  Ward  Carruth  of  Massa 
chusetts  the  writer  is  indebted  for  this  copy  of 
Leech's  diary. 

It  is,  probably,  the  only  connected  narrative  in 
existence  of  an  enlisted  man  who  served  in  our 
navy  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  for  that  reason 
alone,  it  should  be  sacredly  preserved.  Its  value 
is  attested  by  Rear  Admiral  Alfred  Thayer  Ma- 
han,  U.  S.  N.,  who  has  inscribed  on  one  of  its 
fly  leaves  the  following :  "  This  book  possesses 
a  singular  interest  from  its  personal  testimony  to 
conditions,  once  of  common  knowledge,  but  of 
which  it  is  now  difficult  to  obtain  specific,  authen 
tic  description.  A.  T.  Mahan,  March  15,  1904." 

Samuel  Leech  was  a  hereditary  servant  of  the 


MARLBOROUGH  INFLUENCE.  17 

House  of  Marlborough,  his  father  having  been 
valet  de  chambre  to  Lord  William  Fitzroy,  son 
of  the  Duke  of  Grafton ;  while  his  mother,  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  was  one  of  the  trusted 
and  confidential  maids  of  Lady  Francis  Churchill, 
duchess  of  the  fifth  Duke  of  Marlborough. 

It  was  through  the  personal  influence  of  the, 
then,  Lady  Francis  Spencer  that  our  hero  ob 
tained  what  promised  to  be  an  unusually  advan 
tageous  appointment  in  the  royal  navy ;  and,  had 
it  not  been  for  an  unfortunate  incident  (as  related 
in  Chapter  V)  through  which  Lord  Fitzroy — 
brother  of  Lady  Churchill — was  relieved  of  the 
command  of  the  Macedonian,  the  subject  of  this 
work,  undoubtedly,  would  have  remained  in  His 
Britannic  Majesty's  service.  As  it  turned  out, 
Leech  was  captured  in  the  Macedonian,  deserted 
from  the  royal  navy,  entered  the  American  ser 
vice,  was  recaptured  by  the  English,  was  confined 
in  a  South  African  prison  and,  on  being  released, 
re-entered  the  American  navy  and,  eventually, 
became  a  respected  citizen  of  the  United  States. 
The  fact  that  the  present  Duke  of  Marlborough 
has  for  his  duchess  a  member  of  a  well-known 
New  York  family,  gives  to  Americans  a  special 
interest  in  the  truly  remarkable  career  of  Samuel 
Leech. 

Another   feature   of   commanding   interest   in 


1 8  PREFATORY. 

Leech's  life  is  his  graphic  and  detailed  description 
(as  given  in  Chapters  IX  and  X)  of  the  naval 
battle  between  the  United  States  and  Macedonian, 
fought  October  25,  1812.  As  a  specimen  of 
unaffected,  yet  vivid,  word-picturing  it  will  re 
main  a  standard. 

This  engagement  was  one  of  the  crucial  single- 
ship  actions  of  naval  history.  Taken  in  connec 
tion  with  the  other  great  frigate  actions  of  this 
war,  it  resulted  in  the  first  revolution  in  the 
science  of  naval  warfare  in  .the  nineteenth  cen 
tury — just  as  the  duel  between  the  Monitor  and 
Merrimac,  half  a  century  later,  relegated  the 
wooden  fleets  of  the  world  to  Rotten  Row  in 
order  to  give  place  to  ironclads.^ 

When  the  naval  experts  of  Europe  began  to 
study  these  frigate  actions  of  1812  (that  between 
the  Constitution  and  Guerriere,  the  United  States 
and  Macedonian  and  the  Constitution  and  Java) 
they,  for  the  first  time,  appreciated  the  marked 
advance  Yankee  ingenuity  had  made  in  marine 
warfare;  and  remodeled  their  frigates  accord 
ingly — or  as  the  London  Times,  in  its  issue  of 
March  17,  1814,  said:  "exactly  upon  the  plan 
of  the  large  American  frigates." 

So  completely  did  our  44-gun  frigates  demon 
strate  their  superiority  over  British  ships  of  the 
same  class  that  the  Admiralty  issued  a  confidential 


£  = 
2*2 


f 


ADMIRALTY'S  STRANGE  ORDER.  19 

circular,  directing  commanders  of  British  frigates 
to  run  away  from  the  President,  United  States 
and  Constitution  as  the  following  extraordinary 
command  will  show :  "  In  the  event  of  one  of 
his  Majesty's  frigates  under  your  orders  falling 
in  with  one  of  these  ships  [the  American  44-gun 
frigates],  his  captain  should  endeavor  in  the  first 
instance  to  secure  the  retreat  of  his  Majesty's 
ship  but,  if  he  find  that  he  has  an  advantage  in 
sailing,  he  should  endeavor  to  maneuver  and 
keep  company  with  her  without  coming  to  action 
in  the  hope  of  falling  in  with  some  other  of  his 
Majesty's  ships,  with  whose  assistance  the  enemy 
might  be  attacked  with  a  reasonable  hope  of 
success." 

Unfortunately,  we  have  little  detail  of  the 
battles  between  the  Constitution  and  Guerriere 
and  the  Constitution  and  Java  but,  in  that  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  Macedonian,  Leech 
has  given  us  a  battle  scene  of  lasting  historical 
value — doubly  valuable  because  written  from  the 
enemy's  viewpoint — in  his  vivid  narration  of  the 
awfully  destructive  powers  of  the  American  frig 
ate,  as  compared  with  those  of  a  similar  class  in 
the  English  navy. 

Aside  from  his  invaluable  account  of  the  United 
States-Macedonian  fight,  Leech  has  given  us 
many  side-lights  on  the  career  of  our  navy  which 


2O  PREFATORY. 

are  of  popular  and  historical  interest.  In  short, 
his  narrative  is  one  of  unusual  lucidity  and  perti 
nency  on  the  points  tojuched  upon  and,  on  careful 
examination,  the  writer  is  satisfied  that  Leech's 
account,  in  general,  may  be  relied  upon.  Yet, 
the  writer  has  taken  the  liberty  of  culling  such 
of  Leech's  statements  as  might  be  open  to  dispute 
so,  it  is  believed,  that  the  residuum,  as  it  appears 
in  these  pages,  is  founded  on  the  solid  rock  of 
well-established  fact. 


CHAPTER  II. 
WANSTEAD  AND  BLENHEIM. 

On  the  nineteenth  day  of  March,  in  the  good 
year  1798,  there  was  born  in  Wanstead,  England, 
a  boy.  Such  things  had  happened  in  this  sedate 
village  (so  folk  say)  before  the  said  "good  year 
1798"  and  the  parish  register  bears  out  the 
assertion  that  it  has  happened  frequently  since. 

His  name  was  Samuel  Leech — certainly  not  a 
name  to  arrest  attention  in  these  days  when  blood 
letting  has  long  since  ceased  to  be  the  medical 
panacea  for  all  ailments.  Neither  was  there  any 
thing  sufficiently  remarkable  about  the  first  ten 
years  of  the  Wanstead  boy's  life  to  merit  a 
chronicle.  But  there  was  something  about  his 
parentage  and  subsequent  career  that  is  of  pe 
culiar  interest  to  Americans. 

Wanstead,  to-day,  has  been  swallowed  up  in 
the  gigantic  metropolitan  growth  of  London  but 
at  the  time  of  Samuel's  birth  it  was  a  lovely 
suburb,  reckoned  to  be  some  "  seven  miles  from 
the  city."  It  was  when  he  was  a  mere  lad  that 
Samuel  delighted  in  wandering  through  its  beau- 


22  WANSTEAD  AND  BLENHEIM. 

tiful  park,  tossing  "  crums  of  comfort "  to  the 
timid  deer  as  they  grazed  under  massive  oaks  that 
had  withstood  storms  for  centuries. 

Often  did  he  pass  the  venerable  mansion,  seated 
in  the  sylvan  scene  like  a  queen,  to  the  old  parish 
church  with  its  gorgeous  stained-glass  windows, 
to  attend  Sunday  School  and,  with  his  fellow 
scholars  primly  arranged  around  the  deep-toned 
organ,  wait  for  the  curate  to  discourse. 

But  Samuel's  greatest  delight  was  the  annual 
Easter  hunt  in  Epping  Forest  when  the  young 
sters  were  permitted  to  chase  the  deer  over  hill 
and  dale  in  hopeless  but  none  the  less  joyous 
effort  to  overtake  them.  When  tired  of  the 
"  hunt "  the  boys  would  wander  through  the 
forest,  picking  flowers,  playing  games  or  listen 
ing  to  the  sweet-singing  birds. 

Quite  appropriately,  Samuel's  home  was  in  that 
part  of  Wanstead  called  Nightingale  Place,  on 
account  of  the  number  of  these  birds  in  that  vicin 
ity.  Those  were  days  to  which  Samuel,  in  later 
years,  always  looked  upon  as  the  one  great  "  sun 
light  spot  "  of  his  life. 

Samuel's  father  was  a  valet  de  chambre  or  con 
fidential  body  servant  of  Lord  William  Fitzroy, 
son  of  the  Duke  of  Grafton  and  brother  of  the 
Duchess  of  the  fifth  Duke  of  Marlborough.  As 
Mr.  Leech  died  while  Samuel  was  scarcely  three 


EARLY  BOYHOOD.  23 

years  old,  our  hero  had  only  a  vague  recollection 
of  him. 

Indeed,  it  was  while  returning  from  the  funeral 
that  Samuel  himself  came  near  losing  his  life. 
Dressed  in  mourning,  in  keeping  with  the  occa 
sion,  he  was  coming  from  the  parish  church  at 
Walthamstow,  where  the  services  had  been  held 
and,  noticing  some  large  boys  amusing  themselves 
by  swinging  on  the  rail  of  a  fence,  thought  he 
would  try  it  also.  The  result  was  that  he  lost 
his  hold  and  fell  into  a  muddy  ditch  where  he  was 
almost  suffocated  before  he  could  be  pulled  out. 

Two  years  after  his  father's  death,  Samuel's 
mother  became  an  inmate  of  the  family  of  Lady 
Francis  Spencer,  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Graf- 
ton  and  wife  of  Lord  Spencer  who  afterward 
became  Lord  Churchill.  It  was  through  his 
mother's  influence  that  Lord  and  Lady  Churchill 
took  such  an  interest  in  young  Leech,  seeing  to 
it  that  he  was  placed  in  a  good  berth  in  the  royal 
navy.  The  succeeding  Duke  and  his  Duchess 
arranged  for  Samuel's  return  to  England  in 
1841  after  his  desertion  from  the  English  service. 

As  it  was  impossible  for  young  Samuel  to  live 
with  his  mother  in  her  new  position  he  was  placed 
in  the  care  of  an  aunt,  Mrs.  Turner,  who  was 
blessed  with  a  family  of  twenty-two  sons  and  two 
daughters.  It  was  while  he  lived  with  his  prolific 


24  WANSTEAD  AND  BLENHEIM. 

aunt  and  numerous  cousins  that  Samuel  first  got 
his  idea  of  going  to  sea.  Most  of  the  Turner  boys 
were  sailors  and  were  constantly  going  and  com 
ing  from  voyages  so  that  our  hero  soon  had  his 
mind  filled  with  sea  yarns  and  such  stories  of 
adventure  as  sailor  folk  delight  in  spinning  before 
credulous  landmen. 

Seated  around  the  bright  fireside  of  a  winter's 
evening  young  Leech  drank  in  the  wild  stories  of 
adventure  and  hair-breadth  escapes  in  unquestion 
ing  gulps  and  he  soon  came  to  regard  the  sailor 
as  superior  to  all  other  beings  and  the  seaman's 
life  the  ideal  of  human  existence.  Nor  did  the 
fact  that  three  of  the  Turner  boys  died  at  sea 
through  hardship  and  exposure  and  that  two 
more  went  down  in  the  74-gun  ship  of  the  line 
Blenheim,  when  she  foundered  off  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  with  seven  hundred  souls  on  board, 
in  the  least  abate  his  desire  for  the  sea. 

Thus  five  sturdy  young  men  from  one  family 
perished  at  sea  within  the  three  years  of  Samuel's 
stay  at  his  aunt's  home.  Had  he  been  supersti 
tious  he  would  have  augured  evil  omen  from 
the  fact  that  the  Blenheim  was  named  after  the 
place  where  his  mother  was  then  living. 

When  Samuel  was  about  six  years  old  it  be 
came  inconvenient  to  have  him  at  the  Turner 
home  and  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  widowed 


"  A  SMART,  JOLLY  TAR."  25 

aunt.  This  was  a  sad  change  for  the  lad's  new 
guardian  proved  very  unkind  and  severe ;  chas 
tising  him  for  the  breakage  of  a  cup  or  any  other 
slight  accident.  Occasionally,  Samuel  would  earn 
a  few  pennies  by  holding  a  horse  or  running  er 
rands  for  neighbors,  which  his  aunt  would  take 
from  him  as  payment  for  crokery  he  broke. 

One  day  a  smart,  jolly  tar,  fully  six  feet  tall, 
knocked  at  the  front  door.  He  said  that  he  had 
just  returned  from  that  far  distant  country  called 
America  where  he  had  met  a  young  man  named 
George  Turner,  her  nephew  and  Samuel's  cousin. 
He  proceeded  to  tell  many  fine  stories  about 
George  and  finally  asked  Samuel's  aunt  if  she 
would  like  to  see  him  and  if  she  would  know  him. 

"  I  don't  believe  I  would  know  him,"  said  the 
widow,  "  for  he  has  been  away  so  long." 

"Well,  then,"  he  replied,  "I  am  George 
Turner." 

The  young  man  had  been  away  eleven  years 
and  after  visiting  his  parents  had  taken  this 
method  of  surprising  his  aunt.  Many  were  the 
yarns  he  told  and  many  the  little  gifts  and  kind 
words  he  bestowed  on  lonesome,  heartsore  Sam 
uel.  Was  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  the  lad  came 
to  regard  sailors  as  the  noblest  of  human  kind  ? 

While  at  this  place  an  uncle  from  the  West 
Indies  visited  the  house.  He  had  been  one  of  two 


26  WANSTEAD  AND  BLENHEIM. 

brothers  of  Samuel's  mother  who  had  been  edu 
cated  in  Greenwich  for  the  navy.  One  of  them 
entered  the  service  and,  by  dint  of  hard  work, 
finally  obtained  a  commission  but  soon  afterward 
perished  at  sea.  The  other  brother  had  entered 
the  merchant  service  and,  settling  in  Antigua  in 
the  West  Indies,  accumulated  a  competence. 

One  day  this  uncle  took  Samuel  to  London  and 
visited  the  West  India  Docks.  He  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  captains  and  they  paid  special 
attention  to  our  hero — patting  him  on  the  head 
and  remarking  what  a  fine  sailor  lad  he  would 
make  and  asking  if  he  would  not  like  to  ship  as  a 
cabin  boy  etc.  These  flattering  attentions  served 
to  increase  Samuel's  desire  to  go  to  sea  and  he 
returned  to  Wanstead  more  dissatisfied  than 
ever  with  the  quiet  village  life.  Soon  afterward 
this  uncle  went  to  Trinidad  where  he  died. 

It  was  not  long  after  this  that  Mrs.  Leech, 
tiring  of  widowhood,  married  a  Mr.  Newman 
who  was  a  carpenter  employed  by  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough  and,  now  having  a  home  of  her 
own,  she  decided  to  take  Samuel  with  her.  It 
was  a  joyful  day  when  this  boy  mounted  the 
stage  coach  with  his  mother  and,  bidding  goodby 
to  his  relatives,  set  out  on  the  long  sixty-mile  ride 
to  Woodstock. 

The  tediousness  of  the  journey  was  relieved 


ANTICS  OF  A  SAILOR.  27 

by  .the  antics  of  a  fellow  passenger,  a  sailor,  who 
cut  all  sorts  of  pranks.  From  spinning  yarns  he 
would  execute  a  hornpipe  on  the  roof  of  the 
coach.  Whenever  the  vehicle  arrived  at  the  foot 
of  a  hill  he  would  jump  off,  run  a  short  distance 
and  then  spring  back  again  with  the  agility  of  a 
monkey — much  to  the  amusement  of  the  other 
passengers  and  to  the  no  small  admiration  of  our 
hero. 

At  Woodstock  our  friends  left  the  stage  and 
covered  the  remaining  distance  on  foot.  Pro 
ceeding  through  the  magnificent  park  of  Blen 
heim  they  passed  under  the  triumphal  arch  erected 
to  the  memory  of  John  Churchill,  the  first  Duke 
of  Marlborough,  by  his  duchess,  Sarah  Jennings. 
Samuel  was  much  impressed  by  the  grandeur  of 
Blenheim  Palace,  which  was  built  at  public  ex 
pense  and  presented  to  John  Churchill  for  his 
victories  over  the  French  and  Bavarians ;  but 
more  especially  for  his  great  victory  at  Blenheim 
on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  August,  1704. 

Crossing  the  park  toward  Bladen,  Samuel  was 
kindly  received  by  his  stepfather.  He  was  a 
man  in  comfortable  circumstances,  owning  the 
house  in  which  he  lived ;  a  stone  structure,  shaded 
by  a  noble  apricot  tree  and  surrounded  by  a 
pretty  garden. 

Samuel  found  Bladen  and  the  surrounding 
3 


28  WANSTEAD  AND  BLENHEIM. 

country  quite  as  beautiful  as  that  at  Wanstead. 
Well-tended  farms,  flocks  of  sheep  quietly  graz 
ing-  on  the  hillsides,  expansive  fields  surrounded 
by  hawthorn  hedges,  massive  wheatricks  and 
quaint,  old-fashioned  farm  houses  with  thatched 
roofs  met  the  eye  on  all  sides ;  while  carefully 
cultivated  gardens  and  numerous  wild  flowers 
offered  gentle,  soothing  incense. 

The  people  here  were  very  sociable  in  their 
habits  and  gave  the  newcomer  a  hearty  greeting. 
Once  a  year  they  held  a  great  feast  called  the 
Bladen  Festival  at  which  they  invited  all  their 
friends  from  surrounding  towns.  The  ceremony 
began  on  a  Sunday  and  fpr  three  days  eating, 
drinking,  gossiping  and  all  manner  of  games  were 
the  order. 

Amid  such  happy  scenes  time  flew  rapidly 
with  our  hero.  At  the  age  of  eleven  years  he 
completed  his  schooling  and  was  taken  into  the 
Duke  of  Marlborough's  employ  as  a  gardener's 
assistant  in  Blenheim  Park.  Samuel's  early  long 
ing  for  the  sea,  however,  had  not  left  him  and 
the  flame  was  fanned  by  tales  related  by  some  of 
the  servants  in  Blenheim  Palace  who  visited  his 
home.  ) 

One  of  the  frequent  visitors  at  the  Newman 
home  was  a  fine,  tall  fellow,  a  footman  in  Blen 
heim  Palace  who  had  been,  in  his  earlier  days,  a 


WINTER  EVENING  STORIES.  29 

sailor.  He  possessed  a  good  voice  and  whiled 
away  many  an  evening  with  songs,  some  of 
which  were  in  a  nautical  strain.  One  of  them, 
in  spite  of  its  somewhat  rueful  title,  "  Poor  Little 
Sailor  Boy,"  especially  commended  itself  .to  Sam 
uel  and  he  frequently  asked  for  it. 

Another  visitor  was  a  sergeant  in  Lord  Francis 
Spencer's  regiment  of  cavalry  and  was  then  at 
tending  his  Lordship  at  Blenheim  "  on  duty  with 
leave  of  absence."  This  old  soldier  also  had  been 
a  sailor  in  his  youth  and  many  were  the  hours 
pleasantly  beguiled  around  the  Newman  fireside 
on  cold  winter  evenings  listening  to  his  stories 
of  adventure  in  foreign  parts. 

Samuers  mother  also  showed  that  she  had 
inherited  some  liking  for  the  sea  for  frequently 
she  would  emphasize  these  yarns  in  the  lad's 
mind  by  remarking  on  the  noble  appearance  made 
by  the  ships  she  had  seen  when  on  a  visit  to 
Brighton. 

As  a  result  of  these  converging  influences  it 
soon  came  to  a  pass  where  Samuel  could  content 
himself  no  longer  with  the  quiet  life  at  Blenheim 
and,  one  day,  his  mother  mentioned  the  circum 
stances  to  Lady  Spencer.  It  just  happened  at 
that  time  that  Lady  Spencer's  brother,  Lord 
William  Fitzroy,  was  expecting  to  command  the 
frigate  Macedonian  and  was  at  that  moment  at 
Blenheim  on  a  visit,  preparing  to  go  to  sea. 


30  WANSTEAD  AND  BLENHEIM. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Samuel's  father,  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  was  Lord  Fitzroy's  valet. 
Any  one  understanding  the  affection  (unob 
trusive  and  inconspicuous  though  it  may  have 
been)  that  exists  between  hereditary  master  and 
servant  in  old  English  families,  will  at  once  ap 
preciate  the  strong  claim  the  boy  Samuel  had  on 
the  kind  offices  of  Lord  Fitzroy. 

So,  when  Mrs.  Newman  broached  the  subject 
to  Lady  Spencer,  it  is  not  surprising  that  we  find 
that  she  took  an  immediate  interest  in  the  boy; 
not  only  because  of  the  lad's  feudal  connection 
with  the  family  but  because  she  held  Mrs.  New 
man  herself  in  the  highest  esteem — having  had 
her  as  a  personal  attendant  many  years.  At  the 
first  opportunity  Lady  Spencer  submitted  the  case 
to  her  brother. 

Lord  Fitzroy  at  once  sent  for  Samuel.  Tremb 
ling  in  every  limb,  the  boy  was  ushered  into  the 
august  presence  and  to  the  kindly  inquiry  if  he 
would  like  to  go  to  sea,  gasped : 

"  Ye — er — yes,  my  lord,  I  would." 

After  some  further  questioning  the  lad  was 
dismissed  and  it  is  a  tradition  in  the  Newman 
family  (many  members  of  which  are  living  to-day 
in  or  near  Blenheim)  that  his  Lordship  was  heard 
to  say : 

"  I  will  take  that  lad  under  my  personal  care 
and  see  to  his  future  advancement." 


SAM  BECOMES  A  SAILOR.  31 

Such  a  high  honor  from  their  hereditary  lord 
and  master  was  sufficient  to  overcome  any  scruple 
the  fond  mother  had  about  her  boy  venturing  on 
the  sea  and  from  that  moment  it  was  decided  in 
the  Newman  household  that  Samuel  "  a  sailor 
shall  be." 


CHAPTER  III. 

ABOARD  THE  MACEDONIAN. 

This  great  question  having  at  last  been  defi 
nitely  settled,  namely:  that  the  boy  Leech  would 
go  to  sea,  everything  was  shaped  accordingly. 
Visits  of  congratulation  seemed  to  be  inter 
minable.  Many  and  various  were  the  advices  so 
generously  offered.  In  fact,  the  whole  village 
seemed  to  have  appointed  itself  a  Committee  of 
One  to  see  that  the  budding  sailor  was  "  profes 
sionally  "  sent  off  on  his  new  career. 

While  much  of  this  counsel  was  honestly  in 
tended  and,  as  a  rule,  painted  the  future  of  the 
boy  in  glowing  colors,  there  were  (it  must  be 
confessed)  some  doubting  shrugs  of  the  shoulder 
and  sotto  voce  remarks  dropped  that:  it  was  not 
so  pleasant  aboard  a  man-of-war  after  all — even 
if  the  chick  of  a  powder-monkey  were  placed 
under  the  protecting  wing  of  the  commander. 
Ominous  hints  about  "flogging"  were  surrep 
titiously  dropped  and  other  equally  harsh  punish 
ments  were  darkly  insinuated. 

But  few  of  these  sobering  ideas  seemed  to 
have  reached  the  ear  of  our  hero  or,  if  they  did, 


CONGRATULATIONS.  33 

they  had  lost  their  effect  for  so  full  was  he  with 
joy  of  at  last  being  permitted  to  get  on  his 
favorite  element  that  he  was  deaf  to  everything 
save  praise  for  his  new  calling. 

At  last  the  great  day,  July  12,  1810,  arrived. 
That  it  was  a  "  red-letter  "  day  for  Bladen  it  is 
not  necessary  to  say  for  was  not  the  youthful 
seaman  the  special  protege  of  Lord  William 
Fitzroy,  brother  of  the  future  Duchess  of  Marl- 
borough  ?  The  whole  village  turned  out  in  honor 
of  the  occasion  and  amid  many  honest  tears, 
godspeeds  and  unnecessary  advice,  Samuel  Leech 
(attended  by  his  mother,  for  that  good  woman 
was  going  to  see  him  to  the  last  moment)  set 
out  from  the  Marlborough  Arms  for  London  to 
enter  upon  his  new  career. 

Instead  of  going  direct  to  the  metropolis, 
Samuel  and  his  mother  paid  a  short  visit  to 
Wanstead  where  they  were  very  hospitably  and 
affectionately  entertained  by  friends  and  rela 
tives.  Proceeding  to  London  they  engaged  a 
boat  and  were  taken  down  the  Thames  to  Graves- 
end  where  they  stayed  over  night — for  it  was 
near  this  place  that  the  Macedonian  was  fitting. 

Bright  and  early  on  the  following  morning 
Samuel,  attended  by  his  mother,  visited  some  of 
the  shops  in  this  shipping  center  and  in  a  short 


34  ABOARD  THE  MACEDONIAN. 

time,  much  to  the  lad's  glory,  he  was  rigged  in 
a  "  real  "  sailor  suit. 

"  At  last,"  thought  Samuel,  "  I  am  a  sailor  "  ; 
and  he  strutted  along  the  streets  in  a  boyish  effort 
to  assume  the  rolling  gait  of  the  true  man-of- 
warsman,  feeling  several  pegs  taller  than  nature 
warranted. 

That  he  should  not  lack  some  of  the  comforts 
of  life,  his  good  mother  purchased  for  him  a  chest 
filled  with  wearing  apparel  and,  as  her  last  token 
of  maternal  affection,  she  gave  him  a  prayer- 
book,  a  Bible  and  a  pack  of  cards. 

Thus  equipped,  mother  and  son  hired  a  boat 
and,  proceeding  down  the  river  some  two  miles, 
boarded  the  frigate  Macedonian  in  all  the  confi 
dence  bred  of  well-assured  "  influence  "  with  her 
commander.  Much  to  their  disappointment,  Lord 
Fitzroy  was  not  aboard  so  the  boy  was  turned 
over  to  the  not  too  tender  mercies  of  an  underling 
who  took  it  upon  himself  to  enlist  Samuel  in 
the  royal  navy  "  for  life." 

The  lad,  however,  was  inclined  to  regard  this 
more  as  a  compliment  than  a  draw-back  and, 
having  his  mother  with  him  all  day  to  give  advice 
about  personal  deportment  and  things  generally 
not  in  the  least  pertaining  to  the  sea — as  only  an 
affectionate  mother  can — he  passed  the  happiest 
day  of  his  life.  Toward  night  Mrs.  Newman 


FIRST  DAY  ABOARD.  35 

bade  her  son  an  affectionate  goodby.  The  lad 
leaned  far  over  the  rail  as  he  watched  the  re 
treating  boat,  bearing  his  mother  away,  and 
waved  adieus  .to  her  until  the  craft  disappeared 
around  a  bend  in  the  stream ;  when  he  lost  sight 
of  her — not  to  see  her  again  until  thirty  years 
had  rolled  past. 

The  next  morning  Samuel  was  put  in  a 
"  mess,"  the  crew  being  divided  into  messes  of 
eight  each,  who  had  their  meals  at  one  table. 
This  mess  proved  unfortunate  for  our  hero  for 
it  was  composed  of  old  tars  who  did  not  relish 
the  idea  of  being  so  intimately  associated  with  the 
stripling  landlubber. 

One  of  the  men,  named  Hudson,  took  a  special 
dislike  to  young  Leech  and  became  so  persistently 
abusive  in  his  manner  that  other  members  of  the 
mess,  out  of  humanity,  advised  our  hero  to 
change.  This  is  a  privilege  that  was  granted  in  a 
man-of-war,  men  being  allowed  to  change  around 
until  they  find  congenial  associates.  For  those 
unfortunate  ones  who  cannot  find  desirable 
messes,  a  separate  table  is  reserved. 

At  first,  Samuel  found  it  hard  to  accustom  him 
self  to  .the  rough  ways  of  the  men  about  him  but, 
keeping  a  stout  heart,  he  made  honest  effort  to 
please  and  soon  had  friends.  He  had  the  satis- 


36  ABOARD  THE  MACEDONIAN. 

faction   of   seeing   other  boys   fare  worse  than 
himself. 

One  poor  Irish  lad,  named  Billy  Garvey,  had 
been  seized  on  shore  and  was  compelled  to  enter 
the  ship's  company.  He  knew  nothing  whatever 
about  the  sea  or  sailors  and  one  of  his  first 
inquiries  on  coming  aboard  was,  where  he  would 
find  his  "  bed."  His  messmates  told  him  to  inquire 
of  the  burly  boatswain.  That  important  official 
looked  at  the  greenhorn  a  moment  and,  turning 
the  huge  lump  of  tobacco  into  another  corner  of 
his  mouth,  asked: 

"  Have  you  got  a  knife?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"Well,  stick  it  into  the  softest  plank  in  the 
ship  and  take  that  for  a  bed." 

The  poor  fellow  keenly  felt  the  rudeness  for 
he  had  been  brought  up  in  comfortable  circum 
stances.  One  day  he  confided  to  Samuel: 

"  When  I  was  at  home,  I  could  walk  in  my 
father's  garden  in  the  morning  until  the  maid 
would  come  and  say: 

1  William,  will  you  come  to  your  .ta,  or  your 
coffee-ta  or  your  chocolara-ta  ?  '  But  oh !  The 
case  is  altered  now.  It's  nothing  but  'bear  a 
hand,  lash  and  carry.'  Oh  dear !  " 

At  last,  everything  being  in  readiness,  the  order 
"  Up  anchor,  ahoy,"  was  given  and,  for  the  first 


"  CHARMING  "  LISBON.  37 

time  in  his  life,  Samuel  experienced  that  inde 
scribable  thrill  of  being  in  a  moving  ship.  Clear 
ing  the  Thames,  the  Macedonian  put  into  Spit- 
head  where  she  was  to  take  on  board  about  three 
hundred  soldiers,  who  were  to  be  transported  to 
Lisbon  to  assist  the  Portuguese  in  their  fight 
against  Napoleon's  army.  The  soldiers  were 
stowed  away  very  uncomfortably  on  the  main 
deck  while  their  officers  messed  and  bunked  with 
the  officers  of  the  ship. 

After  a  pleasant  passage  of  about  a  week,  the 
coast  of  Portugal  was  sighted  and,  taking  aboard 
a  pilot,  the  Macedonian  beat  about  the  mouth  of 
the  Tagus  (which,  at  the  coast,  is  nine  miles 
wide)  for  nearly  a  whole  day,  waiting  for  a 
favorable  breeze ;  for  Lisbon  was  situated  some 
ten  miles  up  the  river  and  the  current  was  rapid. 
At  last,  favored  by  a  fine  breeze,  the  noble  frigate 
passed  up  between  the  steep,  fertile  banks  of  the 
Tagus  and,  passing  Half-Moon  Battery,  shot  past 
Belem  Castle  into  the  port  of  Lisbon ;  which,  at 
that  time,  was  crowded  with  men-of-war  and 
transports. 

As  Samuel  stood  on  the  deck  of  the  ship  and 
looked  over  the  picturesque  battlements,  cathedral 
spires  and  towers,  the  city  presented  a  charming 
appearance ;  at  least,  so  he  thought.  But  he 
changed  his  mind  when  he  took  a  stroll  on  shore, 


38  ABOARD  THE  MACEDONIAN. 

through  the  narrow,  ill-kept  streets,  beset  at  every 
hand  by  beggars ;  and  he  returned  to  the  frigate, 
satisfied  to  abide  there  while  she  was  in  port. 

It  was  while  at  Lisbon  that  a  "  great  mis 
fortune  "  befel  the  Macedonian — so  her  officers 
declared — for  the  wardroom  steward  (Mr.  San 
ders)  deserted.  He  had  long  been  in  the  service, 
was  an  exceptionally  fine  provider  and  knew,  to 
a  nicety,  how  to  tickle  the  palates  of  his  masters. 
Unlike  many  men  in  his  profession,  Mr.  Sanders 
had  carefully  saved  his  prize  money,  wages,  tips 
etc.,  and  had  accumulated  a  comfortable  little 
fortune. 

Not  being  permitted,  by  the  regulations,  to 
retire  from  the  service  he  decided  to  desert  and, 
speaking  the  Spanish  language  fluently,  he  en 
gaged  a  native  boatman  to  run  his  boat  under 
the  stern  of  the  frigate.  Passing  through  one  of 
the  cabin  windows,  Sanders  dropped  into  the 
boat  and  was  rowed  away — the  boatmen  con 
cealing  him  with  their  flowing  garments.  It  was 
lucky  for  Sanders  that  he  was  not  retaken  for, 
if  he  had,  he  would  have  been  subjected  to  the 
severest  flogging — or  hung. 

Samuel's  exact  position  on  board  the  frigate 
was  that  of  servant  to  the  surgeon  (and  in  time 
of  battle  he  was  "  powder-monkey,"  one  of  the 
lads  who  supplied  the  guns  with  cartridges)  in 


COWARDLY  NATIVES.  39 

which  capacity  he  was  compelled  to  go  ashore 
many  times  on  errands.  On  one  of  these  occa 
sions  he  was  shocked  by  witnessing  a  brutal 
murder,  in  .true  Portuguese  style.  The  victim 
had  aroused  the  jealousy  of  a  rival,  the  latter 
crept  up  behind  the  former  and  thrust  a  long 
knife,  up  to  its  hilt,  in  his  back.  It  was  a 
cowardly  attack  but  Samuel  soon  learned  that  it 
was  typical  of  the  natives. 

In  fact,  it  soon  became  well  understood  that  a 
calm  front  was  the  safest  possible  protection 
against  a  Portuguese.  The  Macedonians  dis 
covered  this  on  several  occasions.  At  one  time 
six  marines,  not  understanding  the  language, 
trespassed  on  the  private  grounds  of  the  queen. 
Some  twenty  natives  rush  at  them,  in  a  most 
ferocious  manner,  with  drawn  knives.  The  Eng 
lishmen  drew  their  bayonets  and  awaited  the 
onslaught.  But,  before  they  came  to  close 
quarters,  the  natives  thought  better  of  their  valor 
and  retreated. 

While  walking  along  the  streets  of  Lisbon, 
on  another  occasion,  Samuel  learned  something 
about  their  way  of  punishing  criminals.  Noticing 
a  noisy  crowd,  he  looked  up  and  saw  a  human 
head  with  a  pair  of  hands  nailed  to  a  barber's 
pole.  On  inquiry,  he  found  that  they  belonged 


4O  ABOARD  THE  MACEDONIAN. 

to  a  barber  who  murdered  a  gentleman  he  was 
shaving-  in  order  to  get  a  beautiful  watch. 

It  was  while  the  Macedonian  was  at  Lisbon 
that  young  Leech  witnessed  a  punishment  that 
made  a  lasting  effect  on  his  tender  mind.  Near 
where  the  frigate  lay,  was  anchored  an  English 
74-gun  ship  of  the  line.  It  seems  that  a  sergeant 
of  marines  in  that  ship  has  especially  aroused  the 
anger  of  those  immediately  under  him  by  re 
peated  acts  of  tyranny ;  and  two  of  the  marines 
determined  to  take  his  life. 

Waiting  for  a  favorable  opportunity,  these 
men  one  dark  night  when  the  deck  was  com 
paratively  deserted,  seized  the  sergeant  and,  hur 
rying  him  to  the  side  of  the  ship,  threw  him  into 
the  river.  The  tide  was  running  swiftly  and,  as 
he  was  securely  gagged  and  bound,  he  soon  per 
ished;  no  one,  save  the  two  marines,  being  cog 
nizant  of  the  deed.  It  was  not  likely  that  the 
murder  would  %ever  have  been  found  out  had  it 
not  been  for  the  indiscretion  of  the  marines 
themselves. 

One  night,  after  they  had  had  a  day  of  "  lib 
erty  "  on  shore,  they  came  aboard  under  the 
influence  of  liquor  and  were  so  loud  in  discussing 
the  details  of  the  foul  act  and  in  congratulating 
themselves  in  having  rid  the  ship  of  the  tyrant, 
that  they  were  overheard  by  an  officer. 


FIRST  CHRISTMAS  AFLOAT.  41 

A  court-martial  was  convened,  the  two  marines 
were  tried  and  found  guilty.  It  was  an  offense 
that  admitted  of  no  delay  or  trifling  for  it 
touched  upon  the  life  of  discipline  in  a  war  ship. 
On  the  following  morning,  the  entire  ship's  com 
pany  was  assembled  on  the  main  deck.  The  two 
criminals,  with  halters  around  their  necks,  were 
placed  under  yard-arms  and  two  guns  were  fired. 
When  the  smoke  had  cleared  away,  two  human 
bodies  were  seen  dangling  at  a  dizzy  height  and, 
in  a  few  moments,  all  was  again  quiet — two  lives 
had  been  snuffed  out.  Only  the  day  before,  a 
letter  had  arrived  honorably  discharging  from 
the  service  one  of  the  men  executed. 

The  first  Christmas  aboard  the  Macedonian 
for  our  hero,  tended  largely  to  chill  his  ardor  for 
the  service.  "  On  this  day,"  said  Leech  in  his 
diary,  "  the  men  were  permitted  to  have  full 
swing.  Drunkeness  ruled  the  ship.  Nearly  every 
man,  with  most  of  the  officers,  was  in  a  state  of 
beastly  intoxication  by  night. 

"  Some  were  fighting  but  were  so  insensibly 
drunk  that  they  hardly  knew  whether  they  struck 
the  guns  or  their  opponents.  Yonder,  a  party 
was  singing  bacchanalian  songs,  such  as  they 
would  not  have  been  permitted  to  do  aboard  any 
ship  under  normal  conditions.  All  were  laugh 
ing,  cursing,  swearing  or  hallooing.  Confusion 


42  ABOARD  THE  MACEDONIAN. 

reigned  in  glorious  triumph ;  it  was  the  very 
chaos  of  humanity.  Had  we  been  at  sea,  a 
sudden  gale  must  have  proved  our  destruction. 
Had  we  been  exposed  to  sudden  attack  from  an 
enemy's  vessel,  we  would  have  fallen  an  easy 
prey — just  as  the  poor  Hessians  at  Trenton  fell 
before  the  well-timed  blow  struck  by  Washington, 
Christmas  night,  1776." 


CHAPTER  IV. 
LIFE  ABOARD  A   FRIGATE. 

In  these  days  when  war  ships  are  built  of  steel, 
with  every  imaginable  contrivance  of  modern 
invention  going  into  their  equipment  and  arma 
ment,  much  of  the  old-time  romance  of  sea  life 
is  lost.  It  was  a  very  different  condition  that 
Samuel  found  when  he  became  fairly  settled  in 
the  frigate  Macedonian.  Here,  he  discovered 
an  isolated  community,  cut  off  for  the  time  being 
from  the  rest  of  the  world  and  governed  by  a 
code  of  regulations  peculiar  to  itself. 

He  soon  learned  that  every  man  in  that  great 
ship's  company  had  a  certain  task  alotted  ex 
clusively  to  him  and,  on  its  proper  performance, 
depended  his  good  standing  on  the  frigate's 
merit-roll.  One  set  of  men  (called  topmen)  was 
assigned  to  the  duty  of  handling  the  sails  aloft. 
They  were  divided  into  three  divisions  namely, 
fore-  main-  and  mizzen-topmen,  according  to  the 
number  of  masts  in  the  ship.  It  was  their  duty 
to  ascend  their  respective  masts  and  to  take  in, 
reef  or  let  out  sails. 


44  LIFE  ABOARD  A  FRIGATE. 

Assisting  these  topmen  was  a  corresponding 
set  of  men  who  handled  the  sails  from  the  deck. 
They,  also,  were  divided  according  to  the  number 
of  masts  and  were  called  forecastle  men,  waisters 
(or  mainmast  men)  and  the  after-guard  or 
those  attending  to  the  last  (or  mizzen)  mast  in  a 
three-masted  ship.  They  looked  after  the  courses 
(or  lowest  sails  in  a  ship),  set  or  took  in  the  jibs, 
lower  studding  sails  and  spanker ;  and  were  re 
quired  to  coil  up  or  properly  replace  all  ropes  on 
deck  after  they  had  been  used. 

Another  set  of  men,  called  scavengers,  were  re 
quired  to  keep  the  decks  clean ;  that  is,  .to  sweep 
up  and  clear  away  all  dirt  or  refuse  from  any 
part  of  the  ship  and  throw  it  overboard. 

Then  came  the  "  boys,"  among  whom  Samuel 
found  himself  enlisted.  They  acted  mostly  as 
servants  for  officers  and  there  were  from  twenty 
to  forty  of  them  in  each  frigate.  The  entire  ship's 
company  (with  the  exception  of  the  commander, 
purser,  surgeon  and  a  few  other  officers  and  the 
boys)  were  divided  into  two  watches,  called  the 
larboard  (port)  and  starboard  watch,  which  re 
lieved  each  other  alternately  so  that  when  at  sea, 
one  watch  was  constantly  on  duty. 

Every  evening  the  entire  ship's  company  was 
drilled  at  the  guns.  When  the  drummer  beat  to 
quarters,  every  man  and  boy  hastened  to  his 


DIVISION  OF  LABOR.  45 

prescribed  station.  There  were  twenty-four  guns 
in  each  of  the  broadsides  of  the  ordinary  British 
frigate  in  those  days,  eight  men  and  a  boy  being 
assigned  to  each  piece :  the  men  to  load,  fire, 
sponge  and  handle  the  cannon  while  the  boy  was 
to  run  to  and  from  the  gun  to  the  magazine,  to 
secure  supplies  of  ammunition. 

Besides  .the  men  and  boys  mentioned,  there 
were  from  thirty  to  forty  marines  (or  soldiers 
who  serve  aboard  ship)  in  every  frigate.  They 
acted  as  the  police,  upholding  the  authority  of 
the  officers,  standing  guard  at  various  points 
and,  in  time  of  battle,  some  of  them  were  placed 
in  the  rigging  so  as  to  attack  the  enemy  with 
their  muskets. 

The  crew  slept  in  hammocks,  swung  on  the 
berth  deck  (or  that  just  below  the  gun  or  main 
deck)  and,  when  called  to  action,  they  sprang  up, 
dressed,  rolled  up  their  hammocks  with  a  rapidity 
that  a  landman  could  hardly  believe  possible — 
each  hammock  being  numbered  and  placed  in  the 
bulwark  nettings  which  had  a  corresponding 
number;  so  that,  even  on  the  darkest  night,  the 
men  knew  exactly  where  to  place  them. 

It  was  some  time  before  Samuel  became  accus 
tomed  to  the  food  aboard  ship — it  being  so  differ 
ent  from  that  he  had  had  on  shore.  While  in 
port,  the  men  had  fresh  bread  and  meat  but,  at 


46  LIFE  ABOARD  A  FRIGATE. 

sea,  they  were  confined  to  salt  pork,  hard  biscuits 
and  pea  soup.  Once  a  week  they  had  flour  and 
raisins  with  which  they  made  a  pudding  called 
"  plum  duff." 

While  eating,  the  men  were  divided  into  messes 
of  eight,  each  mess  having  its  cook  who  drew  the 
allowances,  cooked  the  meals  and  washed  the 
"  kids  "  or  eating  utensils.  This  cook  also  drew 
the  grog  or  liquor  for  the  men,  which  consisted 
of  a  gill  of  rum  per  man.  This  was  served  at 
noon  every  day,  under  the  mistaken  idea  that  it 
made  the  men  stout,  hardy  and  brave.  At  four 
o'clock  every  afternoon  every  man  received  half 
a  pint  of  wine. 

In  the  American  service  this,  worse  than  use 
less  "  grog,"  was  soon  done  away  with  and  it  is 
related  that  when  the  Constitution  went  into 
battle  with  the  Cyane  and  Levant,  some  officer 
thought  he  was  doing  right  by  offering  our 
sailors  a  tub  with  which  to  "  brace  up  their 
courage."  The  Yankee  tars  kicked  the  tub  over 
saying  that  they  needed  no  "  Dutch  courage  "  in 
entering  a  fight 

Samuel  had  not  been  in  the  Macedonian  long 
before  he  was  called  upon  to  witness  that  most 
brutal  and  degrading  of  punishments — flogging. 
While  it  was  practiced  in  other  European  navies 
of  that  day  with  even  greater  severity  than  in 


SEVERE  PUNISHMENT.  47 

the  British,  it  was  sufficiently  cruel  in  the  latter 
to  deserve  the  brand  of  condemnation.  Although 
the  details  of  this  form  of  punishment  are  re 
volting,  it  will  be  necessary  .to  give  some  descrip 
tion  of  it,  if  the  reader  is  to  fully  appreciate  the 
dreadful  anxieties  our  hero  passed  through  after 
his  desertion  from  the  royal  navy  and  subsequent 
capture  by  the  English. 

One  of  the  Macedonian's  midshipmen  was 
named  Gale,  whom  Samuel  describes  as  a  "  ras 
cally,  unprincipled  fellow."  Finding  his  handker 
chief  one  day  in  the  possession  of  a  seaman,  Gale 
accused  him  of  theft — although  the  tar  protested 
that  he  had  found  it  under  his  hammock ;  which 
was  quite  possible  as  the  midshipmen  often  passed 
through  the  berth  deck  on  inspection  and  other 
duties.  The  case  was  reported,  a  court-martial 
convened  and  Captain  Garden  sentenced  the  un 
fortunate  seaman  to  receive  three  hundred  lashes 
through  the  fleet  and  imprisonment  for  one  year ! 

To  be  sure,  stealing,  in  a  man-of-war  is  one 
of  the  gravest  petty  offenses  but,  in  this  case,  the 
crime  was  a  very  long  way  from  fitting  the  pun 
ishment — especially  as  there  was  reasonable  doubt 
of  intentional  .theft. 

On  the  day  appointed  the  prisoner  was  taken 
into  the  frigate's  launch.  This  boat  had  been 
rigged  for  the  occasion  with  poles  and  grating 


48  LIFE  ABOARD  A  FRIGATE. 

to  which  the  prisoner,  stripped  to  the  waist,  was 
firmly  bound  at  his  wrists  and  ankles  with  rope. 
The  Macedonian's  surgeon  took  his  place  in  the 
launch,  so  as  to  determine  when  nature  had 
reached  the  extreme  limit  of  endurance  and  a 
boat  from  every  ship  in  the  fleet  attended  and  was 
connected  by  a  tow-line  with  the  "  execution  " 
launch — so  as  to  give  greater  humiliation  to  the 
prisoner. 

These  preliminaries  being  completed,  the  crew 
of  the  victim's  ship  manned  the  rigging  to  better 
view  the  proceedings — for  the  ordeal  was  de 
signed  as  a  warning  for  them  also.  At  the  word 
from  the  officer  in  charge,  .the  Macedonian's 
boatswain,  with  coat  off  and  sleeves  rolled  up, 
carefully  spread  out  the  nine  cords  of  the  "  cat " 
or  whip  and  brought  it  down  with  all  his  strength 
on  the  bare  back  of  the  victim.  The  flesh  crept 
and  reddened.  Lash  followed  lash  with  nothing 
to  break  .the  awful  silence  save  the  swish  of  the 
nine  cords  cutting  through  the  air  and  landing 
with  a  sickening  thud  on  human  flesh,  or  the 
agonizing  cries  of  the  prisoner. 

In  order  that  the  blows  might  be  delivered  with 
undiminished  vigor  to  the  last,  the  boatswain,  on 
completing  one  dozen  lashes,  handed  .the  brutal 
instrument  to  one  of  his  mates ;  they  delivering 


A  GHASTLY  SPECTACLE.  49 

one  dozen  lashes  each.  The  first  sixty  lashes 
were  given  alongside  the  Macedonian,  in  con 
formity  with  the  custom  of  giving  the  greatest 
number  of  blows  alongside  the  prisoner's  ship 
so  that  his  gory  back  might  strike  terror  in  the 
crews  of  the  other  ships. 

By  this  time  the  prisoner's  back  had  been 
lacerated  beyond  description,  the  flesh  resembling 
"  roasted  meat,  burned  nearly  black  before  a 
scorching  fire,"  as  Samuel  described  it.  His 
shirt  was  now  thrown  over  his  wounds,  the  boat 
swain  and  mates  returned  .to  their  ship,  all  hands 
were  piped  down ;  and  as  the  procession  pro 
ceeded  to  the  next  ship,  the  drummer  beat  the 
Rogue's  March. 

At  the  next  man-of-war,  the  crew  manned  the 
yards  and  rigging  as  before  and  her  boatswain 
and  his  mates  descended  into  the  launch,  cat  in 
hand.  Removing  his  shirt,  he  revealed  the 
ghastly  spectacle  to  his  shipmates  aloft.  Then 
they  proceeded  to  deliver  one,  two  or  three  dozen 
lashes,  according  to  the  number  of  ships  in  the 
fleet. 

This  horrible  drama  was  to  be  enacted  at  .the 
side  of  every  ship,  until  the  three  hundred  lashes 
were  given.  In  this  case,  however,  the  attending 
surgeon,  at  the  end  of  two  hundred  and  twenty 


5O  .  LIFE  ABOARD  A  FRIGATE. 

blows,  pronounced  the  prisoner  unfit  to  endure 
any  more.  Galled,  bruised  and  agonized  as  he 
was,  he  begged  them  to  deliver  the  remaining, 
so  that  he  would  not  again  be  compelled  to  pass 
through  the  degrading  ordeal.  His  request  was 
denied.  Taken  aboard  the  Macedonian  the  sur 
geon  dressed  the  wounds  and,  when  partially 
healed  (for  human  flesh  could  never  recover  from 
such  mutilation)  the  other  eighty  lashes  were 
delivered  before  the  year  of  imprisonment  began. 

Thus  the  mangled  wretch  was  ruined  for  life, 
broken  in  spirit,  all  sense  of  self-respect  gone — to 
be  for  all  his  remaining  days  a  crawling,  servile, 
cringing  slave  to  the  beck  and  nod  of  his  fellow 
men;  ready,  with  sullen  alacrity,  to  obey  their 
slightest  wish. 

This,  of  course,  was  a  case  of  extreme  severity 
but  the  punishment  of  "  flogging  through  the 
fleet "  was  not  uncommon  in  the  British  or  Con 
tinental  navies  of  that  day.  When  the  United 
States  32-gun  frigate  Essex,  Captain  Smith, 
visited  England  shortly  before  the  war  of  1812, 
a  deserter  from  an  English  war  ship  sought 
refuge  in  her.  A  British  officer  came  on  board 
and  made  formal  demand  for  him.  On  being 
sent  below  to  get  his  clothes,  the  deserter  ap 
proached  a  carpenter's  bench  and  with  one  blow, 


BOYS  TO  FLOG  BOYS.  51 

cut  off  his  left  hand  with  an  ax.  Picking  up  the 
severed  member  with  his  right  hand,  he  returned 
to  the  quarter  deck  and  flung  it  at  the  feet  of  his 
captors  saying,  that  before  he  would  again  serve 
in  a  British  man-of-war  he  would  cut  off  his  left 
foot.  Horrified  at  the  sight,  the  lieutenant  left 
the  Essex  without  his  prisoner. 

It  was  a  peculiar  feature  of  the  punishment  of 
flogging  that  officers  who,  at  first,  sickened  and 
fainted  at  the  sight,  gradually  grew  indifferent 
and,  in  some  instances,  acquired  a  fiendish  crav 
ing  for  it.  Not  even  the  tender  flesh  of  the  ship's 
boys  was  safe  from  this  brutal  ordeal ;  only,  in 
their  case,  boys  were  called  upon  to  handle  the 
lash  instead  of  men. 

Such  being  the  severity  of  discipline  maintained 
in  the  royal  navy  at  this  time,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  we  find  that  so  many  attempted  to  run 
away.  With  the  more  desirable  men,  however, 
the  British  commanders  were  lenient.  While  the 
Macedonian  was  under  the  orders  of  Lord  Fitz- 
roy,  a  fine  sailor  named  Richard  Suttonwood  es 
caped  to  an  English  merchant  brig.  When  too 
late,  Dick  found  that  this  brig  was  laden  with 
powder  for  the  Macedonian  and,  on  the  following 
day,  she  ran  alongside.  Realizing  that  he  was 
caught,  Dick  made  the  best  of  a  bad  case  by 


52  LIFE  ABOARD  A  FRIGATE, 

boldly  going  aboard  the  frigate  and  surrendering 
himself — and  Lord  Fitzroy  pardoned  him. 

'''  The  crew,"  records  Samuel,  "  were  all  de 
lighted  at  his  return  on  account  of  his  lively  dis 
position  and  ability  to  sing  comic  songs.  So 
joyous  were  we  all  at  his  escape  from  punishment 
that  we  insisted  on  his  giving  a  concert.  Seated 
on  a  gun,  surrounded  by  scores  of  sailors,  Dick 
sang  a  number  of  favorite  songs  "  to  which  even 
some  of  the  officers  listened — although,  of  course, 
they  did  not  show  it. 

Lord  Fitzroy  appreciated  the  hard  life  of  the 
men  under  him  and  did  every  thing  to  make  it 
pleasanter.  While  at  Lisbon  a  peculiar  character 
was  induced  to  come  aboard  the  Macedonian  who 
did  much  to  "  'liven  up  things."  "  We  had  just 
finished  breakfast,"  said  Samuel,  "  when  a  num 
ber  our  men  were  seen  running,  in  high  glee, 
toward  the  main  hatchway.  Wondering  what 
was  going  on,  I  watched  their  proceedings  with 
curious  eye.  The  cause  of  their  joy  soon  appeared 
in  the  person  of  a  short,  round-faced,  merry-look 
ing  tar  who  descended  the  hatchway  amid  cries 
of: 

"  '  Hurrah  !    Here's  Happy  Jack ! ' 

"  As  soon  as  .the  jovial  little  man  had  set  his 
foot  on  the  berth  deck  he  began  to  sing.  It  was 
a  song  of  triumph,  of  England's  naval  glories. 


"  HAPPY  JACK."  53 

Every  voice  was  hushed,  all  work  was  brought 
to  a  standstill  while  the  crew  gathered  round  in 
groups  to  listen  to  his  unequalled  performance. 
Happy  Jack  succeeded  in  imparting  his  joyous 
feelings  to  our  people  and  they  parted  with  him 
that  night  with  deep  regret." 


CHAPTER  V. 
LIVELY  INCIDENTS  ABOARD. 

Only  a  few  days  after  the  Christmas  carousal 
(as  described  in  Chapter  III),  word  reached  the 
British  admiral  at  Lisbon  that  nine  French  frig 
ates  were  cruising  along  the  western  Spanish 
coast.  In  a  moment  all  was  excitement  and  con 
fusion  as  the  English  war  craft,  then  in  that 
port,  hastened  to  put  to  sea  in  search  of  the 
enemy.  The  74-gun  ships-of-the-line  Hannibal, 
Northumberland  and  Caesar,  with  the  Macedon 
ian  and  a  few  smaller  war  ships,  at  once  dropped 
down  the  river  in  pursuit;  every  man  animated 
with  the  keenest  desire  to  fight.  But  after  cruis 
ing  several  days  in  a  futile  effort  to  discover  the 
French  fleet,  the  Admiral  signaled  "  Return  to 
port." 

On  the  passage  back,  the  English  fell  in  with  a 
Scotch  ship  from  Greenock  which  had  been 
reduced,  by  a  succession  of  gales,  to  a  most 
perilous  condition.  Her  masts  and  rudder  were 
gone  while  numerous  leaks  were  gaining  on  the 
pumps.  Finding  that  it  was  impossible  to  save 
the  craft,  her  people  were  taken  off  and  she  was 
left  to  sink. 


THE  CAPTAIN  CASHIERED.  55 

Before  gaining  port  from  this  short  cruise,  an 
incident  happened  that  seriously  affected  Sam 
uel's  future  career;  indeed,  also  that  of  Lord 
Fitzroy  himself.  One  night  while  the  topsails 
were  being  reefed  the  sailing-master,  Mr.  Lewis, 
in  a  fit  of  ill-humor,  threatened  to  flog  one  of  the 
seamen — which,  by  the  regulations,  he  had  no 
right  to  do.  Lord  Fitzroy  was  a  strict  disciplin 
arian — not  only  with  the  crew  but  with  his 
officers — and  he  would  have  been  the  last  to  have 
had  even  the  humblest  of  his  ship's  company  sub 
jected  to  injustice ;  not  even  at  the  hands  of  his 
sailing-master.  The  latter  held  a  position  of 
responsibility  and  authority  in  the  ship  equal, 
almost,  to  that  of  the  commander  himself. 

Overhearing  Mr.  Lewis'  threat,  Lord  Fitzroy 
took  him  severely  to  task  and  the  sailing-master 
so  far  forgot  himself  as  to  enter  into  a  dispute 
with  his  superior.  The  affair  reached  such  a 
stage  that,  on  their  return  to  Lisbon,  the  Admiral 
ordered  a  court-martial.  Unfortunately  the  sail 
ing-master  had  considerable  influence  with  naval 
authorities  and,  although  Lord  Fitzroy  was  per 
fectly  justified  in  taking  the  course  he  did,  the 
court-martial  compromised  the  matter  with  the 
result  that  both  officers  were  cashiered. 

This  was  a  bitter  disappointment  for  Lord  Fitz 
roy  for  he  had  just  entered  upon  his  cherished 


56  LIVELY  INCIDENTS  ABOARD. 

profession.  He  was  relieved  of  his  command  and 
was  succeeded,  in  rapid  succession,  by  Captains 
Carson,  Waldgrave  and  John  Surman  Carden. 
The  fact  that  it  was  so  hard  to  find  a  commander 
of  ability  equal  to  Lord  Fitzroy,  showed,  plainly 
enough,  how  well  his  professional  qualities  had 
commended  themselves  to  the  Admiralty. 

Among  the  popular  members  of  the  Mace 
donian's  ship's  company  was  a  negro  named 
Nugent.  He  had  a  fine  presence,  polite  manners 
and  easy  address  which  had  won  for  him  "  pro 
motion  "  to  a  wardroom  servant.  As  he  was  an 
American,  however,  and  had  been  unjustly  im 
pressed  in  the  British  service,  he  had  long  kept  a 
"  weather  eye  "  open  for  an  opportunity  to  escape. 

Soon  after  the  return  of  the  squadron  to  Lis 
bon,  as  just  narrated,  Nugent  found  his  chance 
and  managed  to  get  aboard  an  American  ship  that 
was  shortly  to  sail  for  the  other  side  of  the  At 
lantic.  So  far,  his  effort  to  escape  had  been 
entirely  successful  for  the  British  officers  had  not 
been  able  to  trace  him. 

But  one  unlucky  day,  while  Nugent  was  stand 
ing  in  full  view  on  the  deck  of  his  ship,  an  officer 
on  the  Macedonian's  quarter  deck,  who  had  the 
very  professional  habit  of  leveling  his  spyglass  at 
any  and  every  thing  in  sight,  happened  to  bring 
Nugent  within  the  field  of  his  vision ;  and,  recog- 


A    BOAT    PUTTING    OFF    FROM    AN    ENGLISH    WARSHIP. 

From    the   original  painting  by   R.    West  all. 


IMPRESSING  SEAMEN.  57 

nizing  the  deserter,  sent  a  boat  off  which  soon 
returned  with  the  offender.  Punishment  for  de 
sertion  from  the  British  navy,  at  that  time,  was 
exceedingly  brutal.  Nugent  was  placed  in  irons 
until  the  ship  again  got  to  sea  but,  owing  to  his 
general  popularity  and  favor  with  the  officers,  he 
got  off  without  the  dreaded  flogging. 

In  those  days  British  officers  were  unscru 
pulous  in  impressing  men  into  their  service,  it 
frequently  happening  that  citizens  of  other  na 
tions  were  seized  in  the  streets  and  hurried  off  to 
British  war  ships.  Of  course,  these  men  could 
appeal  to  their  consuls  and,  in  some  cases,  were 
released.  But,  in  many  instances  (such  as  Nu- 
gent's)  the  pressgang  was  sent  ashore  on  the  eve 
of  the  ship's  sailing  so  that,  before  word  could 
reach  the  consul,  the  ship  was  far  out  to  sea — 
beyond  the  hope  of  recall. 

It  was  while  at  Lisbon  that  Samuel  himself 
came  near  being  an  involuntary  deserter  and, 
consequently,  incurring  the  dreadful  penalty  for 
that  offense. 

One  day  some  of  the  Macedonian's  officers 
took  him  ashore  to  assist  them  in  making  pur 
chases  for  the  ship's  stores.  Proceeding  to  a 
distant  part  of  the  city,  where  the  lad  never 
before  had  gone,  they  gave  him  a  small  com 
mission  to  execute.  When  he  endeavored  to  re- 


58  LIVELY  INCIDENTS  ABOARD. 

turn  he  got  lost  in  the  labyrinth  of  crooked,  nar 
row  streets  and,  not  understanding  a  word  of 
the  native  language,  he  failed  to  get  back  until 
the  last  ship's  boat  had  left. 

Here  was  a  predicament,  indeed,  for  our  youth 
ful  hero!  He  rightly  conjectured  that  his  ab 
sence  would  be  construed  as  wilful  desertion  and 
that  a  police  alarm  would  at  once  be  sent  out  for 
his  apprehension.  If  so  taken,  no  excuse  of  his 
would  be  listened  to  for  the  local  officials  would 
insist  on  receiving  the  large  reward  offered  by 
the  Admiralty  for  the  apprehension  of  deserters 
from  the  royal  navy;  and  the  Macedonian's  offi 
cers  could  not  pay  that  reward  without  recording 
the  punishment  in  the  ship's  books. 

Almost  distracted  by  the  prospect,  Samuel  set 
out  to  find  the  Fish  Market,  for  he  knew  that 
the  landing  place  was  near  that  spot.  It  was  the 
only  bit  of  Portuguese  geography  he  had  the 
least  familiarity  with.  Addressing,  in  English, 
one  person  and  another,  he  was  answered  by 
empty  stares  and  occasionally  (from  some  citizen 
more  intelligent  than  his  fellows)  with  an  "  No 
entender  Englis." 

Finally,  espying  a  British  soldier,  he  joyfully 
ran  up  to  him  and  exclaimed : 

"  Good  luck  to  you !  Do  tell  me  where  Fish 
Market  is,  for  these  stupid  Portuguese,  bad 


NARROW  ESCAPES.  59 

luck  to  them,  can't  understand  a  word  I  say ;  for 
it  is  all  '  No  entender  Englis.'  " 

The  soldier  laughed  at  this  exhibition  of  Brit 
ish  temper  and  very  kindly  showed  the  desired 
way. 

It  was  now  very  late  at  night  and  few  people 
were  about.  Finally,  Samuel  saw  a  native  boat 
man  but  he  could  not  understand  what  ship  the 
lad  wanted  to  board.  It  happened  that  the  Mace 
donian,  at  this  time,  had  her  mainmast  out  so 
that  by  pointing  and  holding  up  two  ringers  he 
managed  to  make  the  boatman  understand. 

On  another  occasion  Samuel  was  an  unwilling 
deserter  while  his  ship  was  in  the  Bight  o'  Lis 
bon.  Happening  on  shore  with  two  other  boys, 
they  overstayed  their  time  and  had  to  remain  in 
the  city  all  night.  Not  being  provided  with 
money  they  were  compelled  to  wander  about  the 
streets  until  morning. 

All  that  night  they  were  in  constant  fear  of 
being  apprehended  by  the  local  officials  as  de 
serters.  To  guard  against  this,  they  practiced  a 
deception.  Samuel  was  selected  to  represent  a 
midshipman  for,  if  there  was  an  officer  present, 
they  could  not  be  arrested  for  desertion.  By 
means  of  a  piece  of  chalk,  a  stripe  was  marked 
around  his  collar  which,  in  the  uncertain  light 
of  street  lamps,  made  a  fairly  good  imitation  of 
the  silver  lace  around  a  midshipman's  collar. 
5 


60  LIVELY  INCIDENTS  ABOARD. 

Getting  safely  on  board  the  following  morning, 
the  boys  were  separated  for  examination  ;  to  see  if 
they  would  tell  the  same  story  of  their  absence. 
That  they  were  in  for  punishment,  they  could  not 
doubt  for,  in  Leech's  case,  at  least,  this  all-night 
absence  had  happened  twice  in  a  very  short 
period.  Fortunately  for  the  boys,  one  of  them 
happened  to  be  the  servant  of  First  Lieutenant 
David  Hope  and  a  favorite.  If  the  lieutenant's 
boy  was  flogged,  all  must  be  similarly  punished 
so,  in  order  to  save  the  back  of  his  own  boy,  all 
were  let  off  with  an  admonition. 

About  this  time  the  Macedonian  was  ordered 
on  another  cruise  and,  being  short  of  men,  a 
pressgang  (made  up  of  the  most  loyal  men 
aboard,  armed  to  the  teeth)  was  sent  ashore  to 
seize  any  desirable  man  they  might  meet.  They 
returned  with  the  required  number.  Some  of 
them  were  Americans  but  their  protection  papers 
were  taken  from  them  and  destroyed  so  that 
proof  of  the  outrage  was  lost. 

Every  thing  being  in  readiness,  the  Mace 
donian  put  to  sea  for  a  cruise  in  the  Bay  of 
Biscay.  Scarcely  had  she  been  out  two  days 
when  she  encountered  a  gale  in  which  she  nearly 
foundered.  In  his  diary  Samuel  says  :  "  We  had 
just  finished  dinner  when  a  tremendous  sea  broke 
over  us,  pouring  down  the  hatchway,  sweeping 


"  MAN  THE  PUMPS."  61 

the  galley  of  all  its  half-cooked  contents,  then 
being  prepared  for  the  officers'  dinner,  and  cov 
ering  the  berth  deck  with  a  perfect  flood.  It 
seemed  as  if  Old  Neptune  really  intended  that 
wave  to  sink  us  in  Davy  Jones'  locker. 

"  As  the  water  rolled  from  side  to  side  within 
and  the  rude  waves  from  without  beat  against 
her,  our  good  ship  trembled  from  stem  to  stern 
and  seemed  like  a  human  being  gasping  for 
breath  in  a  struggle  with  death.  The  women 
(there  were  several  on  board)  set  up  a  shriek,  a 
thing  I  had  never  heard  them  do  before.  Some 
of  the  men  turned  pale,  others  cursed  and  tried  to 
say  witty  things.  The  officers  started,  orders  ran 
along  the  ship  to  "  Man  the  chain  pumps  "  and 
to  cut  holes  through  the  berth  deck  so  as  to  let 
the  water  into  the  hold.  These  orders  being  rap 
idly  obeyed,  the  ship  was  freed  from  her  danger. 
The  confusion  of  the  moment  before  was  fol 
lowed  by  laughing  and  pleasantries.  That  gale 
was  long  spoken  of  as  one  of  great  danger." 

Soon  after  this  narrow  escape,  the  Macedonian 
gave  chase  to  two  West  Indiamen.  During  the 
night  it  blew  so  hard  that  it  became  necessary  to 
take  in  the  topsails  and  it  was  while  in  the  per 
formance  of  this  duty  that  one  of  the  impressed 
sailors  (an  American  named  John  Thomson)  fell 
from  the  yard,  struck  some  part  of  the  ship  and 
disappeared  in  the  sea — never  to  rise  again. 


62  LIVELY  INCIDENTS  ABOARD. 

Leech  records  that :  "  He  was  greatly  beloved 
by  his  messmates,  by  whom  his  death  was  as 
severely  felt  as  when  a  member  of  a  family  dies 
on  shore.  His  loss  created  a  dull  and  gloomy 
atmosphere  throughout  the  ship  and  it  was  sev 
eral  days  before  the  hands  regained  their  wonted 
elasticity  of  mind  and  appearance." 

While  on  this  cruise,  one  of  Samuel's  duties 
was  the  cleaning  of  knives,  forks,  dish-covers 
etc.,  for  the  wardroom.  This  work  devolved  on 
the  wardroom  boys  in  succession.  One  day,  hav 
ing  finished  his  allotted  task,  the  wardroom  stew 
ard,  a  quick  tempered  man  from  the  East  Indies, 
came  to  Samuel  at  dinner  time  to  inquire  for  the 
knives.  Not  recollecting,  at  the  moment,  where 
he  had  put  them,  the  lad  made  no  reply ;  where 
upon  the  steward  pushed  Samuel  over  a  sack  of 
bread  and,  in  falling,  his  head  struck  the  corner 
of  a  locker. 

As  he  felt  much  pain  and  the  blood  was  flowing 
freely,  Samuel  went  to  Mr.  Marsh,  the  surgeon, 
who  dressed  the  wound  and  advised  the  lad  to 
take  care  of  it. 

Without  doubt,  the  cut  would  have  healed 
speedily  had  it  not  been  for  the  freak  of  a  sailor, 
a  few  davs  afterward.  It  was  one  of  the 
"  sports  "  of  the  seamen,  while  holystoning  and 
washing  down  the  decks  of  the  frigate,  to 


SICK  UNTO  DEATH.  63 

"  souse  "  the  ship's  boys.  Owing  to  the  injury 
on  his  head  and  remembering  the  admonition 
given  by  the  surgeon,  Samuel  had  carefully . 
avoided  this  "  medicine."  This,  of  course,  was 
the  surest  way  of  courting  its  application,  for 
sailor- folk  are  quick  to  note  any  shirking  of  what 
they  believe  to  be  each  one's  due. 

Observing  that  Samuel  was  trying  to  avoid  his 
"  dose,"  an  old  tar  stole  up  behind  him  one 
morning  and  poured  a  bucketful  of  cold  water  on 
his  head.  That  night  Samuel  felt  violent  pains 
in  his  neck,  ears  and  head  and,  being  no  better  on 
the  following  morning,  he  was  examined  by  the 
surgeon  and  excused  from  duty.  Continuing  to 
grow  worse,  he  was  sent  to  the  Sick  Bay  where 
he  remained  several  weeks.  Although  carefully 
attended  by  the  surgeon  and  most  kindly  treated 
by  his  shipmates  (who,  rough  as  they  were, 
were  honestly  sorry  for  him)  he  continued  failing 
until  his  life  was  despaired  of. 

With  him,  in  the  Sick  Bay,  was  a  tough  old 
negro  named  Black  Tom  whose  strong  frame  had 
long  since  been  weakened  by  dissipation.  Black 
Tom  soon  died  and  it  was  with  peculiarly  painful 
feelings  that  Samuel  watched  them  sew  his  body 
up  in  his  hammock  and  heard  them  read  a  short 
burial  service  on  the  deck  above.  It  was  not 
necessary  for  any  one  to  tell  the  lad  what  "  that 


64  LIVELY  INCIDENTS  ABOARD. 

splash  "  in  .the  water  was.  He  heard  the  ominous 
sound  as  Black  Tom's  body  plunged  into  the  deep, 
and  felt  sure  that  the  scene  would  soon  be  re- 
enacted  over  his  own  remains. 

Indeed,  he  could  tell  by  the  lowered  voices 
about  him  that  all  hope  of  his  recovery  had  gone. 
But,  thanks  to  a  strong  constitution  and  discreet 
living,  Samuel  gradually  recovered  and,  by  the 
time  the  frigate  returned  to  Lisbon  from  this 
cruise,  he  was  pronounced  fit  for  duty  again. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
CAPTAIN   GARDEN'S   DISCIPLINE. 

On  return  to  Lisbon  after  the  cruise  in  which 
Samuel  Leech  so  nearly  lost  his  life,  as  described 
in  the  last  chapter,  our  hero  found  that  his  master 
had  secured  the  services  of  another  boy  and  Leech 
was  temporarily  assigned  to  the  duty  of  mes 
senger  for  the  officers.  It  was  now  that  Captain 
John  Surman  Carden  became  commander  of  the 
frigate.  The  men  fondly  believed  that  he  would 
prove  less  severe  in  discipline,  for  his  appear 
ance  gave  promise  of  it.  In  order  to  propitiate 
him  they  called  him  a  "  kind,  fatherly  old  gentle 
man."  But  their  hopes  and  arts  proved  of  no 
avail  for  he  soon  demonstrated  that  he  was 
severer  than  any  of  his  predecessors.  The  slight 
est  offense  was  severely  punished  and  the  men 
were  soon  wishing  that  they  had  the  really  kind- 
hearted  Lord  Fitzroy  with  them  again. 

Just  before  sailing  from  Lisbon  on  another 
cruise,  the  sailing-master's  boy  ran  away.  He 
was  caught,  flogged  and  dismissed  the  service 
and  our  hero  took  his  place  so  that  he  once  more 


66  CAPTAIN  GARDEN'S  DISCIPLINE. 

was  housed  under  the  partially  protecting  wing 
of  a  "  master." 

Captain  Garden,  in  spite  of  the  severity  of  his 
manner,  was  a  man  of  refined  tastes  and  one  of 
his  first  official  acts  was  to  enlist  a  band  of  musi 
cians  composed  of  Germans,  Italians  and  French 
men.  They  had  been  in  a  French  vessel  which 
had  been  captured  by  the  Portuguese.  As  soon 
as  Garden  learned  of  this  he  at  once  engaged 
them  for  the  Macedonian  with  the  stipulation  that 
in  case  of  battle  they  were  not  to  be  called  on  to 
fight  but  were  to  be  stowed  away  in  the  cable  tier 
until  "  the  clouds  blew  over."  Also,  they  insisted 
that  they  were  not  to  be  flogged. 

It  was  fortunate  for  these  men  that  they  made 
the  stipulations  they  did  for,  soon  afterward,  the 
Macedonian  was  engaged  in  battle  with  the 
American  frigate  United  States  and  had  they 
been  exposed  on  deck  some  of  them,  undoubtedly, 
would  have  been  put,  permanently,  out  of  tune. 

The  career  of  this  band  was  singular.  Cap 
tured  from  the  French  by  the  Portuguese,  they 
enlisted  in  the  British  navy.  Captured  from  the 
English  by  the  United  States  they  entered  the 
American  service  and  became  the  second  band  of 
musicians  in  our  navy — the  first  having  been  kid 
napped  by  Captain  McNiell  at  Messina  several 
years  before  and  carried  across  the  Atlantic,  in 


EARLY  SEA-MUSICIANS.  67 

spite  of  their  tearful  protests  that  they  had  not 
provided  for  the  maintenance  of  their  families 
during  their  enforced  absence.  This  first  band 
was  being  returned  to  Italy  in  the  Chesapeake 
when  that  ship  was  captured  by  the  British  frig 
ate  Leopard  in  1807,  and  again  they  were  drawn 
into  sharps  and  flats — from  all  of  which  we  can 
readily  believe  that  the  lot  of  the  early  sea- 
musician  was  not  a  happy  one. 

During  the  cruise  on  which  the  Macedonian 
had  now  entered,  these  musicians  played  when 
ever  Captain  Garden  dined  and  when  the  ward 
room  officers  messed  they  played  before  the  door 
of  that  sanctum  ;  except  on  Sundays  when  Garden 
was  in  the  habit  of  honoring  the  wardroom  with 
his  presence,  the  band  accompanying  him.  On 
the  whole,  the  crew  was  much  pleased  to  have  the 
"  artists  "  with  them  for  they  enlivened  the  mon 
otony  of  the  cruise  and  formed  a  shining  target 
for  the  amateur  musicians  among  the  sailors  to 
hurl  their  scornful  criticisms  at. 

A  few  days  after  leaving  port  an  incident  oc 
curred  which  will  be  described  in  Samuel's  own 
words.  "  The  thrilling  cry  '  A  man  overboard ! ' 
ran  through  the  ship  with  electrical  effect.  It 
was  followed  by : 

' '  Heave  out  a  rope ! '  then  by  still  another : 
' '  Cut  away  the  life  buoy ! '     Then  came  the 
order : 


68  CAPTAIN  GARDEN'S  DISCIPLINE. 

"  '  Lower  a  boat ! ' 

"  Notwithstanding  the  rapidity  of  these  com 
mands  and  the  confusion  occasioned  by  the  antic 
ipated  loss  of  a  man,  they  were  rapidly  obeyed. 
The  ship  was  hove-to.  By  that  time,  however, 
the  cause  of  all  this  excitement  was  at  a  consid 
erable  distance  from  the  ship.  He  was  a  poor 
Swede  named  Logholm  who,  while  engaged  in 
lashing  the  larboard  [port]  anchor  stock,  lost 
his  hold  and  fell  into  the  sea. 

"  He  could  not  swim  but  somehow  managed 
to  keep  afloat  until  the  boat  reached  him,  when 
he  began  to  sink.  The  man  at  the  bow  ran  his 
boat-hook  down  and  caught  the  drowning  man 
by  his  clothes.  The  cloth  giving  way,  the  man 
lost  his  hold  and  the  Swede  once  more  sank. 
Again  the  active  bowman  ran  .the  hook  down, 
leaning  far  over  the  side.  Fortunately  he  got 
hold  of  the  dying  man's  shirt  collar.  Dripping 
and  apparently  lifeless,  he  was  drawn  into  the 
boat.  He  was  soon  under  the  surgeon's  care, 
whose  skill  restored  him  to  life."  Poor  Logholm ! 
He  had  escaped  death  from  drowning  to  await  a 
more  dreadful  fate  in  battle,  as  we  shall  soon  see. 

Awaking  one  morning,  soon  after  this,  Samuel 
discovered  that  he  had  had  the  narrowest  escape 
of  his  life  from  getting  the  lash.  He  learned 
that,  during  the  night,  a  strange  vessel  had  ap- 


MIDNIGHT  CALL  TO  ARMS.  69 

preached  and  believing  her  to  be  an  armed  enemy, 
the  entire  ship's  company  had  been  called  to  quar 
ters.  The  drums  beat,  the  bugle  sounded  to  arms, 
the  great  guns  were  got  in  readiness  for  action, 
the  battle  lanterns  lighted  while  the  officers  and 
men  mustered  at  each  division.  When  all  was  in 
readiness,  it  was  discovered  that  the  stranger  was 
a  harmless  merchantman;  upon  which  the  off- 
watch  returned  to  their  hammocks.  Samuel  had 
slept  soundly  all  through  the  bustle  and  con 
fusion  and,  luckily  for  him,  his  absence  from  the 
assembly  for  action  was  not  noticed. 

Arriving  at  Madeira,  the  Portuguese  boy  who 
had  taken  Samuel's  place  as  servant  to  the  sur 
geon,  was  dismissed  as  being  unfit  for  Anglo- 
Saxon  company  and  it  is  a  high  compliment  to 
Samuel's  character  that  the  surgeon  made  strong 
(though  futile)  efforts  to  have  our  hero  again 
for  his  needs. 

From  Madeira  the  Macedonian  proceeded  to 
St.  Michael's  when  one  of  the  women  on  board 
(wife  of  one  of  the  crew)  gave  birth  to  a  fine, 
plump  boy.  This  happy  incident  was  quickly 
followed  by  another  birth  which  tended  greatly 
to  relieve  the  monotony  of  the  cruise.  Appar 
ently,  Captain  Garden  did  not  relish  the  idea  of 
having  his  gallant  frigate  turned  into  a  nursery 
and,  on  the  return  of  that  ship  to  Lisbon  in  a  few 


70  CAPTAIN  GARDEN'S  DISCIPLINE. 

days,  he  ordered  all  the  women  aboard  to  enter 
a  vessel  about  to  sail  for  England. 

It  was  while  the  Macedonian  was  in  Lisbon  on 
this  trip  that  our  old  friend,  Bob  Hammond,  got 
into  trouble  again.  While  below  deck,  one  day, 
he  was  vexed  by  the  taunts  of  a  shipmate  and, 
raising  his  huge  fist,  aimed  a  blow  which,  instead 
of  striking  the  offender  landed  on  another  sea 
man.  Bob  was  too  angry  to  apologize  and  only 
remarked : 

"  I  have  killed  two  birds  with  one  stone." 

Fighting  among  the  crew  is  a  serious  offense 
aboard  a  war  ship  and  the  next  morning  Bob 
was  ordered  before  Captain  Garden  and  asked 
if  he  had  struck  the  man.  Unhesitatingly  Bob 
replied  that  he  had  and  was  glad  of  it.  Two 
dozen  lashes  were  immediately  laid  on  him  and, 
being  taken  down  from  the  grating  the  Captain 
questioned  him  again.  But  Bob  only  replied  that : 

"  The  man  who  reported  me  is  a  scoundrel  "- 
Bob  used  a  stronger  word. 

For  this,  the  Irishman  got  another  dozen  lashes. 
All  the  strokes  were  received  without  eliciting 
the  slightest  groan  or  twitch  from  the  victim  and, 
thoroughly  discouraged,  Captain  Garden  sent  him 
below. 

One  of  the  finest  sailors  in  the  Macedonian — 
a  man  popular  not  only  with  the  crew  but  with  the 


A  DESPERATE  DESERTER.  71 

officers — named  Jack  Sadler,  growing  weary  of 
the  service,  determined  to  desert.  One  night  he 
lowered  himself  over  the  side  into  the  river  and 
began  swimming  toward  the  shore.  As  it  was 
not  very  dark,  he  was  discovered  and  the  sentry 
fired  at  him  but  without  effect.  Then  a  boat  was 
lowered  and  went  in  chase.  Jack  was  soon  over 
taken,  when  the  officer  in  charge  said : 

"  Well,  Mr.  Sadler,  you  thought  you  had  got 
away,  did  you  ?  "  to  which  Jack  replied : 

"  You  are  not  so  sure  that  you  have  me  now." 

And  with  that  he  sprang  into  the  river  and 
would  have  escaped  had  not  a  boat  from  another 
war  ship  headed  him  off;  for  he  was  an  expert 
swimmer  and  could  remain  under  water  a  long 
time.  On  account  of  his  popularity  he  was  let 
off  with  three  dozen  lashes — a  remarkably  light 
punishment  for  desertion. 

One  of  Sadler's  "  besetting  sins  "  was  that  of 
drunkenness  and  a  few  days  after  this  attempted 
escape  he  applied  himself  lustily  to  the  bottle — 
with  the  usual  result — and  was  placed  in  irons. 
Jack  was  Bob  Hammond's  messmate  and  the  lat 
ter,  observing  his  "  chum's  "  condition,  instantly 
became  so  sympathetic  that  he  got  drunk  too — 
so  that  he  could  "  be  with  him." 

While  in  this  condition,  Bob  purposely  placed 
himself  in  the  way  of  the  officers  and  in  a  short 


72  CAPTAIN  GARDEN'S  DISCIPLINE. 

time  had  the  satisfaction  of  sharing  Jack's  irons 
where  the  sympathetic  souls  were  soon  pouring 
their  commiserations  into  each  others  ears.  The 
united  effect  of  their  distressed  feelings  was  re 
markable  for  in  a  short  time  they  began  singing 
and  throughout  that  live-long  night  they  kept  up 
such  a  yelling  and  hallooing  that  not  one  of  the 
great  ship's  company  could  sleep — especially  the 
officers  whose  rooms  were  near  the  "  brig " ; 
and  they  were  too  dignified  to  order  a  change. 

When  the  culprits  were  hauled  up  for  punish 
ment  the  following  morning,  Captain  Garden 
turned  to  Jack  and  said : 

"  Well,  Mr.  Sadler,  you  were  drunk,  were  you 
last  night?" 

"  I  was,  sir,"  replied  the  offender.  Jack's  of 
fense  merited  severe  handling  but  he  was  a  fav 
orite  of  the  commander  and  Captain  Garden 
wished  to  be  lenient.  So  he  said : 

"  Do  you  feel  sorry  for  it,  sir  ?  " 

"  I  do,  sir." 

"  Will  you  try  to  keep  sober  if  I  forgive  you  ?  " 
continued  Captain  Garden. 

"  I  will  try,  sir,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Then,  sir,  I  forgive  you." 

Then  turning  with  great  severity  to  Bob  Ham 
mond,  the  British  commander  said : 

"  Well,  Mr.  Hammond,  you  got  drunk,  did  you, 
sir?" 


BOB'S  HORN  o'-  MALT.  73 

Bob  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  shifting  the 
enormous  quid  of  tobacco  to  a  convenient  position 
in  his  mouth,  replied : 

"  I  can't  say  but  what  I  had  a  horn  of  malt, 
sir." 

In  a  voice  of  thunder  Garden  asked :  "  A 
horn  of  malt  ?  You  rascal !  What  do  you  call 
a  horn  of  malt  ?  " 

Bob  shifted  the  weight  of  his  body  to  the  other 
leg  and,  giving  a  nautical  hitch  to  his  trousers, 
drolly  said : 

"  When  I  was  in  Bengal,  Madras  and  Batavia 
I  used  to  get  some  stuff  called  arrack — we  used 
to  call  it  a  horn  of  malt ;  but  what  I  had  yesterday 
was  some  good  rum." 

While  delivering  this  explanation  Bob's  manner 
was  so  exquisitely  ludicrous  .that  both  the  officers 
and  men  burst  out  laughing.  Captain  Garden 
was  confused  but  recovering  himself  said  to  First 
Lieutenant  Hope : 

"  Put  that  rascal  in  irons !  It's  of  no  use  to 
flog  him." 

One  of  Captain  Garden's  hobbies  was  to  pick 
out  only  the  finest  seamen  for  his  ship  and  to 
make  room  for  them  he  managed  to  weed  out 
the  drones  by  giving  them  every  opportunity  to 
desert.  Once  in  a  while  he  would  call  on  the 
men  he  wished  to  lose,  to  go  ashore  and  "  cut 


74          CAPTAIN  GARDEN'S  DISCIPLINE. 

stuff  to  make  brooms  of,"  as  he  significantly 
expressed  it.  These  men  soon  came  to  be  known 
as  the  "  Broomers  "  and  it  was  generally  under 
stood  that,  if  they  did  not  return  to  the  ship,  no 
special  effort  would  be  made  to  capture  them. 

Now,  while  Bob  was  an  excellent  seaman  when 
sober,  Captain  Carden  was  fearful  of  the  effect 
his  influence  would  have  on  other  members  of  the 
ship's  company  and  one  day,  when  the  "  Broom 
ers  "  were  called,  Carden  said  to  Hammond  in  a 
very  knowing  manner : 

"  Mr.  Hammond,  you  may  go  with  these  fel 
lows  to  cut  broom  stuff."  Bob  took  the  hint, 
replying : 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,  and  I  will  cut  a  long  handle  to 
it." 

True  to  his  word,  he  "  cut  a  long  handle  to  it  " 
for  he  never  appeared  on  the  Macedonian's  deck 
again. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
FORESHADOWING  A  GREAT  BATTLE. 

About  this  time,  1811,  the  prevailing  topic  of 
conversation  among  British  sailors  was  the  prob 
ability  of  war  with  the  United  States  and  it  will 
prove  interesting  to  observe  the  confidence  gen 
erally  expressed  of  the  easy  victories  England 
would  have,  at  least,  on  the  sea. 

Down  to  this  time  Samuel  had  been  a  loyal 
Briton  and  he  well  expressed  the  sentiment  of  his 
shipmates  when  he  said :  "  The  prevailing  feel 
ing  through  the  fleet  was  that  of  confidence  in 
our  own  success  and  of  contempt  for  the  inferior 
naval  force  of  our  anticipated  enemy.  Every 
man,  and  especially  the  officers,  predicted,  as  his 
eye  glanced  proudly  on  the  fine  fleet  which  was 
anchored  off  Lisbon,  a  speedy  and  successful 
issue  of  the  approaching  conflict." 

Shortly  after  this  the  Macedonian  received 
orders  to  carry  dispatches  to  Norfolk,  Virginia, 
and  she  put  to  sea  accordingly.  It  was  then  in 
the  "  dead  of  winter  "  and  young  Leech,  as  the 
frigate  neared  her  haven,  began  to  feel  the  sharp 
cold  of  the  American  climate.  It  was  the  first 
6 


76        FORESHADOWING  A  GREAT  BATTLE. 

time  he  had  experienced  really  cold  weather  and 

he  listened  with  unusual  interest  to  the  "  cold 

weather  "  yarns  the  sailors  began  to  spin.     One 

^story  particularly  impressed  itself  on  his  mind. 

It  was  that  about  a  tyrannical  lieutenant  who 
delighted  in  imposing  extra  tasks  on  the  crew. 
Although  it  was  never  his  watch  on  deck  at  the 
hour  holystoning  was  done,  he  managed  to  ap 
pear  before  the  task  was  completed  and  made  the 
men  do  it  over  again.  This,  in  a  severe  climate, 
was  a  great  hardship  so  that  many  a  curse  or 
prayer  was  offered  that  he  might  be  taken  else 
where. 

One  morning,  the  weather  being  unusually 
cold,  the  men  sprang  to  their  work  hoping  to 
finish  holystoning  the  decks  before  their  tor- 
menter  came  up.  They  had  just  completed  the 
task  when  the  lieutenant  appeared  and  angrily 
ordered  them  to  do  it  all  over  again.  With  mut 
tered  imprecations  they  got  down  to  the  wet 
decks  on  their  knees,  earnestly  hoping  that 
he  might  never  again  appear  on  deck  alive. 
Strangely  enough  their  wish  was  granted  for  the 
officer  was  taken  sick  and  died  the  next  day. 

Dropping  anchor  in  Hampton  Roads,  the  frig 
ate  was  made  snug  for  a  short  stay  in  American 
waters.  Samuel  Leech  records  :  "  The  sound  of 
our  own  familiar  tongue  from  strangers  was  very 


"  FINE  EATING  IN.  AMERICA."  77 

agreeable  after  being  so  long  accustomed  to  Por 
tuguese  lingo  and  a  thrill  of  home  remembrances 
shot  through  our  hearts  as  the  American  pilot, 
on  stepping  on  board  said :  '  It's  very  cold/  " 

"While  in  Hampton  Roads  we  fared  well.  Boats 
were  alongside  every  day  with  plenty  of  beef  and 
pork,  which  was  declared  by  universal  consent  to 
be  infinitely  superior  to  that  we  had  obtained  in 
Portugal.  Our  men  said  that  Yankee  pork  would 
swell  in  the  pot,  which  they  very  sagely  accounted 
for  on  the  supposition  that  the  pigs  were  killed 
in  the  full  of  the  moon." 

The  principal  drawback  to  .the  enjoyment  of  the 
stay  at  Norfolk  was  the  denial  of  liberty  to  go 
ashore.  The  strictest  care  was  taken  to  prevent 
communication  with  the  land,  either  personally 
or  by  letter  lest  the  men  would  desert  or  might 
learn  of  the  impending  war.  Many  of  the  crew 
were  Americans  wrongfully  impressed. 

Speaking  of  the  interchange  of  visits  between 
the  officers  and  Americans,  Samuel  touches  on  one 
of  the  historical  episodes  in  the  American  navy. 
He  said:  "Our  officers  never  enjoyed  them 
selves  better  than  during  our  stay  at  this  port. 
Besides  feasting  among  themselves  on  the  fine, 
fat  beef,  geese  and  turkeys  which  came  alongside 
in  abundance,  they  exchanged  visits  with  Com 
modore  Decatur  and  his  officers  of  the  frigate 


78        FORESHADOWING  A  GREAT  BATTLE. 

United  States,  then  lying  at  Norfolk.  I  remember 
hearing  Commodore  Decatur  and  the  captain  of 
the  Macedonian  joking  about  taking  each  other's 
ships  in  case  of  war." 

From  Captain  Mackenzie's  Life  of  Decatur  we 
get  the  details  of  this  conversation  which,  as  will 
soon  be  seen,  was  prophetic — though,  according 
to  another  account  it  took  place  in  Lisbon  instead 
of  at  Norfolk.  "  Garden  particularly  pointed  out 
the  inefficiency  of  the  24-pounders  on  the  main 
deck  of  the  United  States  and  said  that  they 
could  not  be  handled  with  ease  and  rapidity  in 
action  and  that  long  i8-pounders  would  do  as 
much  execution  and  were  as  heavy  as  experience 
had  proved  that  a  frigate  ought  to  carry.  '  Be 
sides,  Decatur,'  said  Garden,  '  though  your  ships 
may  be  good  enough,  and  you  are  a  clever  set  of 
fellows,  what  practice  have  you  had  in  war? 
There's  the  rub.' " 

After  a  quick  run  across  the  Atlantic,  the 
Macedonian  arrived  at  her  old  quarters  in  Lisbon 
where,  much  to  the  joy  of  all  on  board,  orders 
were  found  awaiting  her  to  convoy  a  fleet  of 
merchantmen  home.  It  was  now  over  two  years 
since  Samuel  had  seen  Merry  England  and  he 
describes  the  departure  from  Lisbon  in  the  fol 
lowing  graphic  style :  "  One  morning  a  gun  was 
fired  to  give  notice  to  our  convoy  to  get  under 


OFF  FOR  MERRY  ENGLAND.  79 

weigh.  Immediately  the  harbor  was  alive  with 
noise  and  activity.  The  song  of  the  sailors  weigh 
ing  anchor,  the  creaking  of  pullies,  the  flapping 
of  sails,  the  loud,  gruff  voices  of  the  officers  and 
the  splashing  of  the  waters  created  what  to  us, 
now  that  we  were  homeward  bound,  was  a  sweet 
harmony  of  sounds. 

"Amid  all  this  animation,  our  own  stately 
frigate  spread  her  bellying  sails  to  a  light  but 
favoring  breeze.  With  colors  flying,  our  band 
playing  lively  airs  and  the  captain  with  his  speak 
ing  trumpet  urging  the  lagging  merchant  ships  to 
more  activity,  we  passed  gaily  through  the  fleet 
consigned  to  our  care.  In  this  gallant  style  we 
scudded  past  the  straggling  ruins  of  old  Lisbon, 
which  still  bore  marks  of  the  earthquake  that 
destroyed  it.  Very  soon  the  merry  fishermen, 
who  abound  in  the  Tagus,  were  far  at  our  stern. 
Next  we  glided  past  the  tall  granite  pinnacles  of 
towering  Mount  Cintra.  The  highlands  passed 
from  our  vision  like  scenes  in  a  panorama  and  in 
a  few  hours,  instead  of  the  companionship  of  the 
large  flock  of  seagulls,  which  hover  over  this 
river,  we  were  attended,  here  and  there,  by  only 
one  of  these  restless  wanderers  of  the  deep. 
Now  we  were  fairly  at  sea  and  were  enjoying  the 
rare  luxury  of  fond  anticipations.  Visions  of 
many  an  old  fireside,  of  many  an  humble  hearth- 


8o        FORESHADOWING  A  GREAT  BATTLE. 

stone,  poor,  but  precious,  flitted  through  the 
minds  of  many  of  our  crew  that  night.  Hard 
ships  and  severe  discipline  were  for  the  time  for 
gotten  in  dreams  of  hope." 

After  a  pleasant  passage  of  a  few  days  the 
beautiful  shores  of  Old  England  greeted  the 
longing  eyes  of  the  Macedonian's  crew  and  in  a 
short  time  the  noble  frigate  was  snugly  anchored 
in  .the  harbor  of  Plymouth.  But  now  Samuel  ex 
perienced  another  (and  perhaps  the  most  trying 
hardship)  of  the  sailor's  life.  Lest  the  men  might 
desert,  they  were  not  permitted  to  go  ashore  al 
though  the  ship  was  under  orders  to  undergo 
thorough  repairs  which  necessitated  a  long  stay 
in  that  port. 

To  our  hero  this  was  a  bitter  disappointment, 
for  he  had  fondly  counted  on  paying  a  short  visit 
to  Bladen  and  again  seeing  his  mother.  As  a 
special  favor  he  was  permitted  to  go  ashore  with 
another  boy  and  this  delicious  taste  of  terra  firma 
is  described  by  the  lad  in  the  following  words: 
"  One  fine  Sabbath  morning  I  went  ashore  with  a 
messmate  who  lived  in  Plymouth  and  in  company 
with  some  children  we  wandered  into  the  fields 
where  the  merry  notes  of  the  numerous  birds,  the 
rich  perfume  of  the  blooming  trees,  the  tall  green 
hedges  and  the  modest  primroses,  cowslips  and 
violets,  which  adorned  the  banks  by  the  roadside, 
filled  me  with  inexpressible  delight." 


"ACTUALLY.  SOBER."  81 

True  to  the  pious  teachings  of  his  mother, 
Samuel  did  not  abuse  the  privilege  of  going 
ashore,  as  some  of  the  other  boys  in  the  Mace 
donian  did.  He  kept  away  from  the  alehouses 
and  at  sunset  returned  aboard  and  reported  him 
self  to  the  officer  of  the  deck.  The  latter  seemed 
surprised  to  find  the  youngster  sober  and  dis 
missed  him  with  a  kind  word. 

About  the  same  time  some  of  the  other  lads 
returned  from  liberty  in  a  condition  that  showed, 
too  plainly,  that  they  had  been  over  indulging  in 
liquor.  They  loudly  berated  Samuel  for  being 
so  "  white-livered  and  unseamanlike  "  as  not  to 
get  drunk,  declaring  that  he  was  fit  only  for  the 
company  of  babies  and  womenfolk.  On  the  fol 
lowing  morning,  however,  these  same  boys  were 
summoned  to  the  grating  and  were  soundly 
flogged  for  their  conduct ;  so  that,  after  all,  Sam 
uel  had  the  laugh  on  them. 

While  at  Plymouth  the  Macedonian  was  taken 
into  one  of  the  magnificent  drydocks  of  that  port 
and  was  thoroughly  overhauled.  New  rigging 
was  rove,  alterations  made  and,  being  repainted 
inside  and  out,  she  looked  like  a  new  ship. 

Finally,  everything  being  in  readiness,  the  frig 
ate  made  a  quick  run  over  to  the  French  port 
of  Rochelle  from  which  place  she  proceeded  to 
Brest  where  a  formidable  English  fleet  was  found 


82        FORESHADOWING  A  GREAT  BATTLE. 

blockading  the  port.  A  superior  French  fleet  was 
in  this  harbor  and  it  was  the  plan  of  the  British 
commander-in-chief  to  lure  it  out  to  a  general 
engagement. 

Our  hero  records :  "  With  all  our  maneuver 
ing,  we  could  not  entice  them  from  their  snug 
berth  in  the  harbor,  where  they  were  safely 
moored,  defended  by  a  heavy  fort  and  by  a  chain 

crossing  the  harbor Sometimes  we  sent  a 

frigate  or  two  as  near  their  fort  as  we  dared. 
At  other  times  the  whole  fleet  would  get  under 
weigh  and  stand  out  to  sea — but  without  success. 
Once  in  a  while  their  frigates  would  creep  outside 
the  forts,  when  we  gave  them  chase  but  seldom 
went  beyond  the  exchange  of  a  few  harmless 
shots." 

Returning  to  Plymouth  and  then  again  making 
for  the  coast  of  France,  the  Macedonian  had 
nearly  accomplished  the  distance  of  the  return 
passage  when,  one  day,  the  man  at  the  masthead 
cried  out : 

"Sail,  ho!" 

"  Where  away  ?  "  inquired  the  officer  of  the 
deck.  Being  informed,  the  officer  asked : 

"  What  does  she  look  like?  " 

"  She  looks  small ;  I  cannot  tell,  sir." 

Waiting  a  few  minutes,  until  the  stranger  was 
nearer,  the  officer  again  hailed : 


CAPTURING  FUGITIVES.  83 

"  Masthead,  there !  What  does  she  look  like  ?  " 
"  She  looks  like  a  small  sail  boat,  sir." 
So  small,  indeed,  was  this  sail  boat  that  it  was 
not  until  the  frigate  had  almost  run  her  down 
that  she  could  be  seen  from  the  deck,  when  it  was 
found  that  it  contained  a  man  and  a  boy.  That 
such  a  frail  craft  should  be  alone  in  these  danger 
ous  waters  was,  in  itself,  enough  to  arouse  sus 
picion  and  running  alongside  the  English  took 
them  aboard.  They  proved  to  be  two  French 
prisoners  who  had  escaped  from  a  British  prison 
and,  having  stolen  a  skiff,  had  ventured  on  this 
voyage  for  liberty. 

"Poor  fellows,"  said  Samuel.  "They  looked 
sadly  disappointed  in  finding  themselves  again  in 
British  hands  when  in  sight  of  their  own  sunny 

France I  am  sure  we  all  would  have  been 

glad  to  have  missed  them." 

Returning  to  the  blockading  fleet  off  Brest,  the 
Macedonian  entered  upon  a  service  that  was  more 
"  active  "  than  that  she  had  previously  engaged 
in.  Finding  that  the  French  would  not  come  out, 
boat  expeditions  were  organized  and  went  out  at 
night  to  pick  up  whatever  might  come  in  the  way. 
One  night  a  more  formidable  expedition  than 
usual  was  under  way  and  Samuel  records  that 
"  the  oars  were  muffled,  the  boats'  crews  increased 
and  every  man  was  armed  to  the  teeth.  The  cots 


84        FORESHADOWING  A  GREAT  BATTLE. 

were  got  in  readiness  in  case  any  of  the  party 

came  back  wounded Notwithstanding  these 

omnious  preparations,  the  brave  fellows  went  off 
in  fine  spirits  as  if  they  had  been  going  ashore 
on  liberty.  We  had  no  tidings  of  this  adventure 
until  morning  when  I  was  startled  by  hearing 
three  cheers  from  the  watch  on  deck  which  were 
answered  by  a  party  that  seemed  to  be  approach 
ing  us. 

"  I  ran  on  deck  just  as  our  men  came  along 
side  with  their  bloodless  prize,  a  lugger,  laden 
with  French  brandy,  wine  and  castile  soap.  As 
this  was  our  first  prize  we  christened  her  Young 
Macedonian.  Before  sending  her  to  England  for 
condemnation,  some  of  our  people  replenished 
their  empty  bottles  with  the  brandy. 


A  MIDNIGHT  BOAT  ATTACK. 

From  the  original  painting  by  R.  Jack. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
A  MOMENTOUS  NAVAL  BATTLE. 

We  now  come  to  that  part  of  Samuel  Leech's 
diary  which  forms  one  of  the  most  important 
documents  in  our  naval  history  and,  in  considera 
tion  of  its  great  value,  it  will  be  given  in  the 
hero's  own  words. 

The  expression  "  most  important "  has  been 
used  advisedly.  There  have  been  more  spec 
tacular  and  more  dramatic  actions  between  single 
warships  in  the  nineteenth  century  but  none  (with 
one  exception — that  between  the  Monitor  and 
Merrimac)  has  exerted  such  influence  in  revo 
lutionizing  the  science  of  sea  fighting  and  naval 
architecture  as  that  group  of  single-frigate  battles 
in  1812,  namely :  that  between  the  Constitution  and 
Guerriere,  the  United  States  and  Macedonian  and 
the  Constitution  and  Java. 

Unfortunately  we  have  but  scanty  details  of 
the  first  and  last  mentioned  engagements  but  in 
the  second  we  have  the  fullest  account  in  Leech's 
diary ;  and  it  may,  unhesitatingly,  be  accepted  as. 
being  typical  of  the  three.  Leech's  account  is 
doubly  valuable  inasmuch  as  it  is  given  from 


86          A  MOMENTOUS  NAVAL  BATTLE. 

the  enemy's  view-point ;  therefore,  unbiased  in  its 
acknowledgment  of  the  marvelous  accuracy  of 
American  gunnery  and  the  general  efficiency 
of  the  early  American-built  frigate. 

It  is  undeniable  that  the  direct  result  of  this 
group  of  single-frigate  actions  was  the  first 
revolutionizing  of  the  fleets  of  .the  world  in  the 
nineteenth  century  and  the  change  from  European 
traditions  and  methods  in  naval  architecture  to 
American  ideals— j  ust  as  the  battle  between  the 
Monitor  and  Merrimac  resulted  in  the  relegation 
of  wooden  war  craft  to  the  Rotten  Row,  to  make 
room  for  ironclads. 

In  order  that  we  may  more  intelligently  follow 
the  momentous  sea  fight  in  which  the  Macedonian 
was  soon  to  engage,  a  few  words  descriptive  of 
the  opposing  ships  will  be  necessary. 

The  United  States  belonged  to  that  famous 
group  of  frigates — having  for  her  sisters  the 
Constitution  and  President — built  at  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  These  ships  embodied 
many  new  ideas  in  naval  construction  which  were 
unsparingly  criticised  by  European  experts  as 
"  rash  innovations/'  "  unprofessional  vagaries  " 
and  "  visionary  schemes."  So  deeply  rooted  was 
English  conservatism  in  this  matter  that  even 
Captain  Garden  himself,  after  visiting  the  frigate 
United  States  (the  ship  he  was  fated  to  fight) 


HEAVY  YANKEE  GUNS.  87 

and  having-  thoroughly  inspected  her,  frankly 
declared  his  belief  that  the  Macedonian  was 
more  than  her  match. 

Aside  from  many  details  of  minor  importance, 
the  main  difference  between  the  class  of  large 
American  and  British  frigates  at  that  day  was 
that  the  former  carried  24-pounders  to  the  lat- 
ter's  i8-potmders  on  the  main  deck,  and  42- 
pounders  to  their  32-pounders  on  the  quarterdeck 
and  forecastle. 

But  it  was  just  this  superiority  of  weight  that 
Englishmen  declared  would  work  detrimentally. 
They  insisted  that  24-  and  42-pounders  could 
not  be  handled  as  efficiently  in  the  heat  of  action 
as  18-  and  32-pounders. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  American  44-gun  frig 
ate  was  overweighted  (carrying  fifty-five  guns 
to  the  English  forty-nine)  and  the  experience  of 
the  first  three  frigate  actions  proved  it ;  with  the 
result  that  before  hostilities  ceased  our  number  of 
guns  had  been  reduced  to  fifty-one.  It  was  with 
this  reduced  armament  that  the  Constitution  cap 
tured  with  marvelous  immunity  to  herself  the 
Cyane  and  Levant  whose  combined  armaments 
made  fifty-five  guns  with  a  total  shot  weight  of 
754  pounds  to  the  broadside  as  opposed  to  the 
644  pounds  in  the  Yankee.  To  a  limited  extent, 
then,  we  find  Captain  Garden's  remark  about  the 


88          A  MOMENTOUS  NAVAL  BATTLE. 

overweight  of  our  frigates  well  founded  and  that 
the  Constitution,  United  States  and  President 
were  more  formidable  with  the  reduction. 

It  was  fashionable  in  European  court  circles, 
in  those  days,  to  refer  to  anything  American  in 
terms  of  derision  and  contempt  and  our  gallant 
little  navy  bore  the  brunt  of  these  unkindnesses. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  of  1812,  English 
newspapers  spoke  of  our  frigates  as  "  bundles  of 
fir  planks,  flying  a  gridiron  flag  "  while  the  Lon 
don  Statesman,  in  its  issue  early  in  June,  1812, 
solemnly  declared '  "  America  certainly  cannot 
pretend  to  wage  war  with  us;  she  has  not  the 
navy  to  do  it  with." 

Before  the  war  was  over,  however,  England, 
in  self  defense,  was  compelled  to  follow  our 
models :  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following  extract 
from  the  London  Times  of  March  17,  1814: 
"  Sir  G.  Collier  was  to  sail  yesterday  from  Ports 
mouth  for  the  American  station  in  the  Leander, 
54.  This  ship  has  been  built  and  fitted  out  exactly 
upon  the  plan  of  the  large  American  frigates." 

Like  all  of  its  European  contemporaries,  The 
Thunderer  expressed  unlimited  confidence  in  the 
ability  of  the  British  navy  to  "  sweep  the  con 
temptible  flag  of  the  United  States  from  the  seas  " 
and  to  "  reduce  our  marine  arsenals  to  a  heap  of 
ruins  within  six  months  "  but,  when  it  heard  of 


"  OUR  BACKS  YET  BLEEDING."  89 

the  loss  of  the  Macedonian,  so  quickly  following 
that  of  the  Guerriere,  it  exclaimed : 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  what  was  done  with  this 
immense  superiority  of  force  ?  " 

Summing  up  the  results  of  the  naval  war  of 
1812  the  London  Times,  in  its  issue  of  December 
30,  1814,  said:  "We  have  retired  from  the 
combat  with  the  stripes  yet  bleeding  on  our 
backs.  Even  yet,  however,  if  we  could  but  close 
the  war  with  some  great  naval  triumph  the  repu 
tation  of  our  maritime  greatness  might  be  par 
tially  restored.  But  to  say  that  it  has  not  hitherto 
suffered  in  the  estimation  of  all  Europe  and,  what 
is  worse,  of  America  herself,  is  to  belie  common- 
sense  and  universal  experience. 

"  '  Two  or  three  of  our  ships  have  struck  to  a 
force  vastly  inferior.'  No!  Not  two  or  three 
but  many  on  the  ocean  and  whole  squadrons  on 
the  lakes ;  and  the  numbers  are  to  be  viewed  with 
relation  to  the  comparative  magnitude  of  the 
two  navies.  Scarcely  is  there  an  American  ship 
of  war  which  has  not  to  boast  a  victory  over  the 
British  flag ;  scarcely  one  British  ship  in  thirty  or 
forty  that  has  beaten  an  American.  With  the 
bravest  seamen  and  the  most  powerful  navy  in  the 
world,  we  retire  from  the  contest  when  the  bal 
ance  of  defeat  is  so  heavy  against  us  " — and  these 
extraordinary  admissions  were  penned  before  the 


QO          A  MOMENTOUS  NAVAL  BATTLE. 

editor  had  learned  of  the  capture  of  the  Cyane 
and  Levant  by  the  Constitution,  the  disabling  of 
the  Endymion  by  the  President,  the  capture  of 
the  Nautilus  by  the  Peacock,  the  disastrous  action 
on  Lake  Borgne,  the  repulse  of  the  British  boat 
attack  on  .the  General  Armstrong  in  Fayal,  or  the 
brilliant  victory  of  the  Hornet  over  the  Penguin! 

Such  being  the  peculiarly  discouraging  condi 
tions  under  which  our  little  navy  entered  into  the 
naval  struggle  of  1812-' 15,  it  is  with  special  in 
terest  that  we  follow  the  graphic  details  Samuel 
Leech  has  given  us  relative  to  the  second  great 
frigate  action  of  that  war. 

That  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Macedonian 
were  thoroughly  imbued  with  that  overweening 
pride  in  England's  naval  prowess,  so  prevalent  at 
that  date,  is  shown  in  a  quotation  from  Leech's 
diary  which  bore  on  a  rumor  that  war  was  immi 
nent  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
in  1811.  He  said:  "Every  man,  and  especially 
the  officers  [in  the  Macedonian],  predicted,  as 
his  eye  glanced  proudly  on  the  fine  fleet  which 
was  anchored  off  Lisbon,  a  speedy  and  successful 
issue  to  the  approaching  conflict.  The  prevailing 
feeling  through  the  whole  fleet  was  that  of  con 
fidence  in  our  own  success  and  contempt  for  the 
inferior  naval  force  of  our  anticipated  enemies." 

And  why  should  not  "  every  man,  and  espe- 


ENGLISH  OVER-CONFIDENT.  91 

cially  the  officers  "  in  the  Macedonian  so  "  pre 
dict  "  when  their  ship  was  one  of  the  newest  and 
finest  products  of  British  naval  construction, 
whereas,  every  one  of  her  possible  Yankee  rivals 
of  the  same  class  were  "  old  tubs  "  built  in  the 
preceding  century? 


CHAPTER  IX. 

IN   BATTLE'S   AWFUL  DIN. 
(Leech's  own  narrative.) 

At  Plymouth  we  heard  some  vague  rumors  of 
a  declaration  of  war  against  the  United  States. 
More  than  this,  we  could  not  learn  since  the 
utmost  care  was  taken  to  prevent  our  being  fully 
informed.  The  reason  of  this  secrecy  was,  prob 
ably,  because  we  had  several  Americans  in  our 
crew,  most  of  whom  were  impressed  men.  These 
men,  had  they  been  certain  that  war  had  broken 
out,  would  have  given  themselves  up  as  prisoners 
of  war  and  claimed  exemption  from  that  unjust 
service  which  compelled  them  to  fight  against 
their  country. 

This  was  a  privilege  which  the  magnanimity 
of  the  officers  ought  to  have  offered  them.  They 
had  already  perpetrated  a  grievous  wrong  upon 
them  in  impressing  them.  It  was  adding  cruelty 
to  injustice  to  compel  their  service  against  their 
own  nation. 

Leaving  Plymouth  we  next  anchored,  for  a 
brief  space,  at  Torbay,  a  small  port  in  the  British 


"  MASTHEAD  THERE  1 "  93 

Channel.  We  were  ordered  thence  to  convoy  a 
huge  East  India  merchant  vessel,  much  larger 
than  our  frigate  and  having  five  hundred  troops 
on  board,  bound  to  the  East  Indies  with  money 
to  pay  the  troops  there. 

We  set  sail  in  a  tremendous  gale  of  wind. 
Both  ships  stopped  two  days  at  Madeira  to  take 
in  wine  and  a  few  other  articles.  After  leaving 
this  island;  we  kept  her  company  two  days  more 
and  then,  according  to  orders,  having  wished  her 
success,  we  left  her  to  pursue  her  voyage  while 
we  returned  to  finish  our  cruise. 

Though  without  any  positive  information,  we 
now  felt  pretty  certain  that  our  Government  was 
at  war  with  America.  Among  other  things  our 
captain  appeared  more  anxious  than  usual.  He 
was  on  deck  almost  all  the  time.  The  lookout 
aloft  was  more  rigidly  observed  and  every  little 
while  the  cry: 

"  Masthead,  there !  "  arrested  our  attention. 

It  is  customary  in  men-of-war  to  keep  men  at 
the  fore  and  mainmast  heads,  whose  duty  it  is 
to  give  notice  of  every  new  object  that  may  ap 
pear.  They  are  stationed  at  the  royal  yards,  if 
those  are  up  but,  if  not,  on  the  topgallant  yards. 
At  night  a  lookout  is  kept  on  the  foreyard  only. 

Thus  we  passed  several  days,  the  captain  run 
ning  up  and  down,  constantly  hailing  the  man 


94  IN  BATTLE'S  AWFUL  DIN. 

at  the  masthead.  Early  in  the  morning  he  began 
his  charge: 

"  Keep  a  good  lookout "  and  continued  to  re 
peat  it  until  night.  Indeed  he  seemed  almost 
crazy  with  some  pressing  anxiety. 

The  men  felt  that  there  was  something  antici 
pated  of  which  they  were  ignorant  and  had  the 
captain  heard  all  their  remarks  upon  his  conduct 
he  would  not  have  felt  highly  flattered.  Still, 
everything  went  on  as  usual.  The  day  was  spent 
in  the  ordinary  duties  of  man-of-war  life  at  sea 
and  in  the  evening  in  telling  stories  of  things 
most  rare  and  wonderful — for  your  genuine  old 
tar  is  an  adept  in  spinning  yarns. 

To  this  yarn-spinning  was  added  the  most  hum 
orous  singing,  sometimes  dashed  with  a  streak  of 
the  pathetic  which,  I  assure  you,  was  most  touch 
ing  ;  especially  in  one  very  plaintive  melody  with 
a  chorus  beginning  with : 

Now  if  our  ship  should  be  cast  away, 

It  would  be  our  lot  to  see  Old  England  no  more. 

This  song  made  rather  a  melancholy  impression 
on  my  mind  and  gave  rise  to  a  sort  of  presenti 
ment  that  the  Macedonian  would  never  return 
home  again.  The  presence  of  a  shark  following 
our  frigate  for  several  days,  with  its  attendant 
pilot  fish,  tended  to  strengthen  this  prevalent 


"SAIL  Ho!"  95 

idea.  [That  shark  was  destined  to  be  kept  ex 
ceedingly  busy  for  the  next  few  days. — E.  S. 

The  Sabbath  [October  25,  1812]  came  and 
brought  with  it  a  stiff  breeze.  We  usually  made 
a  sort  of  a  holiday  of  this  sacred  day.  After 
breakfast  it  was  common  to  muster  the  entire 
crew  on  the  spar  deck,  dressed  as  the  fancy  of  the 
captain  might  dictate:  sometimes  in  blue  jackets 
and  white  trousers  or  blue  jackets  and  blue 
trousers ;  at  other  times  in  blue  jackets,  scarlet 
vests  and  blue  or  white  trousers  with  our  bright 
anchor  buttons  glancing  in  the  sun  and  our  black 
glossy  hats  ornamented  with  black  ribbons  and 
with  the  name  of  our  ship  painted  on  them. 

After  muster  we  frequently  had  church  service, 
read  by  the  captain.  The  rest  of  the  day  was 
devoted  to  idleness.  But  we  were  destined  to 
spend  this  Sabbath  in  a  very  different  manner. 

We  had  scarcely  finished  breakfast  before  the 
man  at  the  masthead  shouted : 

"  Sail  ho ! "  The  captain  rushed  upon  deck, 
exclaiming : 

"  Masthead,  there !  " 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir." 

"  Where  away  is  the  sail  ?  "  The  precise  an 
swer  to  this  question  I  do  not  recollect  but  the 
captain  proceeded  to  ask: 

"What  does  she  look  like?" 


96  IN  BATTLE'S  AWFUL  DIN. 

"  A  square  rigged  vessel,  sir,"  was  the  reply  of 
the  lookout.    A  few  minutes  afterward,  the  cap 
tain  shouted  again: 
"  Masthead,  there !  " 
"  Ay,  ay,  sir." 

"What  does  she  look  like?" 
"  A  large  ship,  sir,  standing  toward  us." 
By  this  time  most  of  the  crew  were  on  deck, 
eagerly  straining  their  eyes  to  obtain  a  glimpse 
of  the   approaching  ship   and   murmering  their 
opinions  to  each  other  on  her  probable  character. 
Then  came  the  voice  of  the  captain  shouting: 

"  Keep  silence,  fore  and  aft !  "     Silence  being 
secured,  he  hailed  the  lookout: 

"What   does   she   look   like?"   to   which   the 
lookout  replied: 

"  A  large  frigate,  bearing  down  upon  us,  sir." 
A  whisper  ran  along  the  crew  that  the  stranger 
was  a  Yankee  frigate.     The  thought  was  con 
firmed  by  the  command : 

"  All  hands  clear  ship  for  action,  ahoy !  " 
The  drum  and  fife  beat  to  quarters,  bulkheads 
were  knocked  away,  the  guns  were  released  from 
their  lashings  and  the  whole  dread  paraphernalia 
of  battle  was  produced.  And,  after  the  lapse  of  a 
few  minutes  of  hurry  and  confusion,  every  man 
and  boy  was  at  his  post,  ready  to  do  his  best 
service  for  his  country — except  the  band  of  musi- 


IN  GRIM  BATTLE  ARRAY,  97 

cians  who  came  aft  in  a  body  and  claimed  exemp 
tion  from  the  affray  by  virtue  of  their  contract. 
And,  with  the  Captain's  permission,  they  safely 
stowed  themselves  away  in  the  cable  tier. 

We  had  only  one  sick  man  on  the  list  [the 
boatswain]  and  he,  at  the  cry  of  battle,  hurried 
from  his  cot,  feeble  as  he  was,  to  take  his  post 
of  danger.  A  few  of  the  junior  midshipmen  were 
stationed  on  the  berthdeck  below  with  orders 
given  in  our  hearing  .to  shoot  any  man  who 
attempted  to  run  from  his  quarters. 

Our  men  were  all  in  good  spirits,  though  they 
did  not  scruple  to  express  the  wish  that  the 
coming  foe  was  a  Frenchman  rather  than  a 
Yankee.  We  had  been  told  by  the  Americans  on 
board,  that  frigates  in  the  American  service  car 
ried  more  and  heavier  metal  than  ours.  This, 
together  with  our  consciousness  of  superiority 
over  the  French  at  sea,  led  us  to  a  preference  for 
a  French  antagonist. 

The  Americans  among  our  number  felt  quite 
disconcerted  by  the  necessity  that  compelled  .them 
to  fight  against  their  own  countrymen.  One  of 
them,  named  John  Card,  as  brave  a  seaman  as 
ever  trod  a  plank,  ventured  to  present  himself 
to  the  captain  as  a  prisoner,  frankly  declaring  his 
objections  to  fight.  Captain  Carden,  very  ungen 
erously  ordered  him  to  his  quarters,  threatening 


98  IN  BATTLE'S  AWFUL  DIN. 

to  shoot  him  if  he  made  the  request  again.  Poor 
fellow !  He  obeyed  the  unjust  command  and  was 
killed  by  a  shot  from  his  own  countrymen. 

As  the  approaching  ship  showed  American 
colors,  all  doubt  of  her  character  was  at  an  end. 
"  We  must  fight  her  "  was  the  conviction  in  every 
breast.  Every  possible  arrangement  that  could 
insure  success  was  accordingly  made.  The  guns 
were  shotted,  the  matches  [long  pieces  of  slow- 
burning  rope  for  igniting  guns]  were  lighted; 
for,  although  our  guns  were  furnished  with 
first-rate  locks,  they  were  also  provided  with 
matches,  attached  by  lanyards,  in  case  the  lock 
should  miss  fire. 

A  lieutenant  then  passed  through  the  ship 
directing  the  marines  and  boarders,  who  were 
furnished  with  pikes,  cutlasses  and  pistols,  how 
to  proceed  if  it  became  necessary  to  board  the 
enemy.  He  was  followed  by  the  captain  who 
exhorted  the  men  to  fidelity  and  courage,  urging 
upon  their  consideration  the  well-known  motto 
of  brave  Nelson :  "  England  expects  every  man 
to  do  his  duty." 

In  addition  to  all  these  preparations  on  deck, 
some  men  were  stationed  in  the  tops  with  small 
arms,  whose  duty  it  was  to  attend  to  trimming 
the  sails  and  to  use  their  muskets,  provided  we 
came  to  close  action.  There  were  others  also  be- 


BEGINNING  THE  FIGHT.  99 

low,  on  deck,  called  "  sail  trimmers  "  to  assist 
in  working  the  ship,  should  it  be  necessary  to 
shift  her  position  during  the  action. 

My  station  was  at  the  fifth  gun  on  the  main 
deck.  It  was  my  duty  to  supply  my  gun  with 
powder,  a  boy  being  appointed  to  each  gun  in  a 
ship  on  the  side  we  engaged,  for  that  purpose. 
A  woolen  screen,  saturated  with  water,  was 
placed  before  the  entrance  to  the  magazine,  with  a 
hole  in  it,  through  which  cartridges  were  passed 
to  the  boys.  We  received  them  there  and,  cover 
ing  them  with  our  jackets  [to  prevent  sparks 
from  prematurely  exploding  them]  hurried  to  our 
respective  guns.  These  precautions  are  taken  to 
prevent  the  powder  taking  fire  before  it  reaches 
.the  gun. 

Thus  we  all  stood,  awaiting  orders,  in  motion 
less  suspense.  At  last  we  fired  three  guns  from 
the  larboard  [port]  side.  This  was  followed  by 
the  command : 

"  Cease  firing ;  you  are  throwing  away  your 
shot."  Then  came  the  order : 

"  Wear  ship  and  prepare  to  attack  enemy  with 
your  starboard  guns." 

Soon  after  this  I  heard  firing  from  some  other 
quarter  which  I,  at  first,  supposed  to  be  a  dis 
charge  from  our  quarter  deck  guns,  though  it 


ioo  IN  BATTLE'S  AWFUL  DIN. 

proved  to  be  the  roar  of  the  enemy's  cannon. 
A  strange  noise,  such  as  I  had  never  before 
heard,  next  arrested  my  attention.  It  sounded 
like  the  tearing  of  sails,  just  over  our  heads. 
This,  I  soon  ascertained,  was  the  wind  or  whist 
ling  of  the  enemy's  shot  through  the  air. 

After  a  few  minutes  cessation,  the  firing  re 
commenced.  The  roaring  of  cannon  could  now 
be  heard  from  all  parts  of  our  trembling  ship  and, 
mingling  as  it  did  with  that  of  our  foe,  it  made 
a  most  hideous  noise.  By  and  by  I  heard  the 
shot  strike  the  side  of  our  ship. 

Then  the  whole  scene  grew  indescribably  con 
fused  and  horrible.  It  was  like  some  awfully 
tremendous  thunder  storm,  whose  deafening  roar 
is  attended  by  incessant  streaks  of  lightning, 
carrying  death  in  every  flash  and  strewing  the 
ground  with  victims  of  its  wrath.  Only,  in  our 
case  the  scene  was  rendered  more  horrible  than 
that  by  the  presence  of  torrents  of  blood  which 
dyed  our  decks. 

Though  the  recital  may  be  painful  yet,  as  it 
will  reveal  the  horrors  of  war  and  show  at  what 
a  fearful  price  a  victory  is  won  or  lost,  I  will 
record  the  incidents  as  they  met  my  eye  during 
the  progress  of  this  dreadful  fight. 

I  was  busily  supplying  my  gun  with  powder 
when  I  saw  blood  suddenly  fly  from  the  arm  of 


A  SCENE  OF  HORROR.  101 

a  man  stationed  at  our  gun.  I  saw  nothing 
strike  him.  The  effect  alone  was  visible.  In  an 
instant,  the  third  lieutenant  tied  his  handkerchief 
round  the  wounded  arm  and  sent  the  groaning 
wretch  below  to  the  surgeon. 

The  cries  of  the  wounded  now  rang  through 
all  parts  of  the  ship.  These  were  carried  to  the 
cockpit  as  fast  as  they  fell,  while  those  more 
fortunate  men  who  were  killed  outright  were 
immediately  thrown  overboard  [to  that  shark!] 

As  I  was  stationed  but  a  short  distance  from 
the  main  hatchway,  I  could  catch  a  glimpse  at 
all  who  were  carried  below.  A  glance  was  all  I 
could  indulge  in  for  the  boys  belonging  to  the 
guns  next  to  mine  were  wounded  in  the  early 
part  of  the  action  and  I  had  to  spring  with  all 
my  might  to  keep  three  or  four  guns  supplied 
with  cartridges. 

I  saw  two  or  three  of  these  lads  fall  nearly 
together.  One  of  them  was  struck  in  the  leg  by 
a  large  shot.  He  had  to  suffer  amputation  above 
the  wound.  The  other  had  a  grape  or  canister 
shot  sent  through  his  ankle.  A  stout  Yorkshire 
man  lifted  him  in  his  arms  and  hurried  him  to  the 
cockpit.  He  had  his  foot  cut  off  and  was  thus 
made  lame  for  life. 

Two  of  the  boys  stationed  on  the  quarterdeck 
were  killed.  They  were  both  Portuguese.  A 


102  IN  BATTLE'S  AWFUL  DIN. 

man  who  saw  one  of  them  killed,  afterward  told 
me  that  his  powder  [cartridge]  caught  fire  and 
burnt  the  flesh  almost  off  his  face.  In  this  pitiable 
condition  the  agonized  boy  lifted  up  both  hands, 
as  if  imploring  relief,  when  a  passing  shot  cut 
him  in  two. 

I  was  an  eye-witness  to  a  sight  equally  revolt 
ing.  A  man  named  Aldrich  had  one  of  his  hands 
cut  off  by  a  shot  and,  almost  at  the  same  moment, 
he  received  another  shot  which  tore  open  his 
bowels  in  a  terrible  manner.  As  he  fell,  two  or 
three  men  caught  him  in  their  arms  and  (as  he 
could  not  possibly  live)  threw  him  overboard  to 
find  relief  by  death  in  the  waves. 

One  of  the  officers  in  my  division,  also  fell  in 
my  sight.  He  was  a  noble-hearted  fellow  named 
Nan  Kivell.  A  grape  or  canister  shot  struck  him 
near  the  heart.  Exclaiming: 

"Oh!  My  God!"  he  fell  and  was  carried 
below,  where,  shortly  afterward,  he  died. 

Mr.  Hope,  our  first  lieutenant,  was  wounded 
by  a  grummet  or  small  iron  ring,  probably  torn 
from  a  hammock  clew  by  a  shot.  He  went  below, 
shouting  to  the  men  to  fight  on.  Having  had  his 
wound  dressed,  he  came  up  again,  shouting  at 
the  top  of  his  voice,  bidding  us  to  fight  with  all 
our  might. 
/  The  battle  went  on.  Our  men  kept  cheering 


DREADFUL  CARNAGE.  103 

with  all  their  strength.  I  cheered  with  them, 
though  I  confess  I  scarcely  knew  what  for.  Cer 
tainly  there  was  nothing  very  inspiriting  in  the  as 
pect  of  things  where  I  was  stationed.  So  terrible 
had  been  the  work  of  destruction  around  us,  it 
was  .termed  a  slaughter  house.  Not  only  had  we 
had  several  boys  killed  or  wounded  but  several 
of  .the  guns  were  disabled.  The  one  I  belonged 
to  had  a  piece  of  the  muzzle  knocked  out  and 
when  the  ship  rolled,  it  struck  a  beam  of  the 
upper  deck  with  such  force  as  to  become  jammed 
and  fixed  in  that  position. 

A  24-pound  shot  also  passed  through  the  screen 
of  the  magazine,  immediately  over  the  orifice 
through  which  we  passed  the  powder.  The 
school  master  received  a  death  wound.  The 
brave  boatswain,  who  came  from  the  Sick  Bay  to 
the  din  of  battle,  was  fastening  a  stopper  to  a 
back  stay  which  had  been  shot  away,  when  his 
head  was  smashed  to  pieces  by  a  cannon  ball. 
Another  man,  going  to  complete  the  unfinished 
task,  also  was  struck  down.  Another  of  our  mid 
shipmen  received  a  severe  wound. 

The  unfortunate  wardroom  steward,  who  at 
tempted  to  cut  his  throat  on  a  former  occasion, 
was  killed.  A  fellow  named  John,  who  for  some 
petty  offense  had  been  sent  on  board  as  punish 
ment,  was  carried  past  me  wounded.  I  dis- 


IO4  IN  BATTLE'S  AWFUL  DIN. 

.tinctly  heard  the  large  blood-drops  fall  pat,  pat, 
pat  on  the  deck.  His  wounds  were  mortal. 
Even  a  poor  goat,  kept  by  the  officers  for  her 
milk,  did  not  escape  the  general  carnage.  Her 
hind  legs  were  shot  off  and  poor  Nan  was  thrown 
overboard. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SCENES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 

(Leech's  narrative  concluded.) 
/ 

Such  were  the  terrible  scenes  amid  which  we 
kept  on  our  shouting  and  firing.  Our  men  fought 
like  tigers.  Some  of  them  pulled  off  their  jackets, 
others  their  jackets  and  waists ;  while  some,  still 
more  determined,  had  taken  off  their  shirts  and 
with  nothing  but  a  handkerchief  tied  around  the 
waistbands  of  their  trousers,  fought  like  heroes. 
Jack  Sadler  was  one  of  these. 

I  also  observed  a  boy  named  Cooper  stationed 
at  a  gun  some  distance  from  the  magazine.  He 
came  to  and  fro  on  the  full  run  and  appeared  to 
be  as  "  merry  as  a  cricket."  The  third  lieutenant 
cheered  him  along  occasionally  by  saying : 

"  Well  done,  my  boy.  You  are  worth  your 
weight  in  gold." 

I  have  often  been  asked  what  my  feelings  were 
during  this  fight.  I  felt  pretty  much  as  I  sup 
pose  every  one  does  at  such  a  time.  That  men 
are  without  thought  when  they  stand  amid  the 
dying  and  dead  is  too  absurd  an  idea  to  be  enter 
tained  for  a  moment.  We  all  appeared  cheerful 


io6  SCENES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 

but  I  know  that  many  a  serious  thought  ran 
through  my  mind.  Still,  what  could  we  do  but 
keep  up  a  semblance  at  least  of  animation? 

To  run  from  our  quarters  would  have  been 
certain  death  at  the  hands  of  our  own  officers. 
To  give  way  to  gloom  and  fear  or  to  show  fear 
would  do  no  good  and  might  brand  us  with  the 
name  of  cowards  and  insure  certain  defeat.  Our 
only  true  philosophy,  therefore,  was  to  make  the 
best  of  our  situation  by  fighting  bravely  and 
cheerfully.  I  thought  a  great  deal,  however,  of 
the  other  world.  Every  groan,  every  falling  man 
told  me  that  the  next  instant  I  might  be  before 
the  Judge  of  all  the  earth. 

For  this,  I  felt  unprepared.  But,  being  with 
out  any  particular  knowledge  of  religious  truth, 
I  satisfied  myself  by  repeating  again  and  again 
the  Lord's  prayer  and  promising  that,  if  spared, 
I  would  be  more  attentive  to  religious  duties 
than  ever  before.  This  promise,  at  the  time, 
I  had  no  doubt  of  keeping.  But  I  have  since 
learned  that  it  is  easier  to  make  promises,  amidst 
the  roar  of  cannon  in  battle  or  in  the  horrors  of 
shipwreck,  than  to  keep  them  when  danger  is 
over  and  safety  smiles  upon  our  path. 

While  these  thoughts  secretly  agitated  my 
mind,  the  din  of  battle  continued.  Grape  and 
canister  shot  were  pouring  through  our  port  holes 


A  STORM  OF  SHOT.  107 

like  leaden  rain,  carrying  death  in  their  train. 
The  large  shot  crashed  against  the  sides  of  the 
ship  like  monstrous  sledge  hammers,  shaking 
her  to  the  very  keel,  or  passing  through  her 
timbers  scattered  terrific  splinters  which  did  more 
appalling  work  than  even  their  death-dealing 
blows. 

Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  effect  of  grape 
and  canister  when  it  is  known  that  grapeshot  is 
formed  by  seven  or  eight  balls  confined  to  an  iron 
ring  and  tied  in  a  cloth.  These  balls  are  scattered 
by  the  explosion  of  the  powder.  Canister  shot  is 
made  by  filling  a  powder  canister  with  balls, 
each  as  large  as  two  or  three  musket  balls.  These 
also  scatter  with  direful  effect  when  discharged. 

What,  then,  with  splinters,  cannon  balls,  grape 
and  canister  poured  incessantly  upon  us,  you  may 
be  assured  that  the  work  of  destruction  went  on 
in  a  manner  which  must  have  been  satisfactory 
even  to  the  King  of  Terrors  himself. 

Suddenly,  the  rattling  of  the  iron  hail  ceased. 
We  were  ordered  to  stop  firing.  A  profound 
silence  ensued,  broken  only  by  the  stifled  groans 
of  the  brave  sufferers  below.  It  was  soon  ascer 
tained  that  the  enemy  had  forged  ahead  to  repair 
damages,  for  she  was  not  so  disabled  but  what 
she  could  sail  without  difficulty  while  we  were 
so  utterly  cut  up  that  we  were  completely  helpless. 
8 


io8  SCENES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 

Our  head  braces  were  shot  away.  The  fore 
and  main  topmasts  were  gone.  The  mizzen  mast 
hung  over  the  stern,  having  carried  several  men 
over  with  its  fall.  We  were  in  a  state  of  complete 
wreck. 

A  council  was  now  held  among  the  officers  on 
the  quarterdeck.  Our  condition  was  perilous  in 
the  extreme.  Victory  or  escape  were  alike  im 
possible.  Our  ship  was  disabled,  many  of  our 
men  were  killed  and  many  more  wounded.  The 
enemy  would,  without  doubt,  bear  down  on  us  in 
a  few  moments  and,  as  she  could  now  choose  her 
own  position,  would  rake  us  fore  and  aft.  Any 
further  resistance,  therefore,  was  folly.  So,  in 
spite  of  Lieutenant  Hope,  who  was  for  fighting 
to  the  last  and  sinking  alongside,  it  was  deter 
mined  to  strike  our  bunting. 

This  was  done  by  the  hands  of  a  brave  fellow 
named  Watson,  whose  saddened  brow  told  how 
severely  it  pained  his  lion  heart  to  do  it.  To  me 
it  was  a  pleasing  sight,  for  I  had  seen  enough 
fighting  for  one  Sabbath.  His  Britannic  Maj 
esty's  frigate  Macedonian  was  now  a  prize  of  the 
American  frigate  United  States. 

[When  the  news  of  this  battle  reached  England 
Lord  Churchill,  very  kindly,  sent  a  copy  of 
Captain  Garden's  official  report  with  the  list  of 
killed  and  wounded  to  Samuel's  mother  at  Blen- 


"  STREWN  WITH  WOUNDED."  109 

heim;  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  Leech's  iL- 
name  did  not  appear  in  the  list  of  casualties.] 

Immediately  upon  the  surrender  I  went  below 
to  see  how  matters  appeared  there.  The  first 
object  I  met  was  a  man  bearing  a  limb  which  had 
just  been  detached  from  some  suffering  wretch. 
The  leg  was  thrown  overboard.  Pursuing  my 
way  to  the  wardroom  I  necessarily  passed 
through  the  steerage,  which  was  strewn  with  the 
wounded. 

It  was  a  sad  spectacle,  made  more  appalling  by 
the  groans  and  cries  which  rent  the  air.  Some 
were  groaning,  others  were  swearing  most  bit 
terly,  a  few  were  praying,  while  those  last  arrived 
were  begging  most  piteously  to  have  their  wounds 
dressed  next.  The  surgeon  and  his  mate  were 
smeared  with  blood  from  head  to  foot.  They 
looked  more  like  butchers  than  doctors. 

Having  so  many  patients,  they  had  once  shifted 
their  quarters  from  the  cockpit  to  the  steerage. 
They  now  moved  to  the  wardroom  and  the  long 
table,  round  which  the  officers  had  sat  over  many 
a  merry  feast,  was  soon  covered  with  bleeding 
forms  of  maimed  and  mutilated  seamen. 

While  looking  around  the  wardroom  I  heard 
a  noise  above,  occasioned  by  the  arrival  of  .the 
boats  from  the  conquering  frigate.  Very  soon  a 
lieutenant,  I  think  his  name  was  [John  B.]  Nich- 


no  SCENES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 

olson,  came  into  the  wardroom  and  said  to  the 
busy  surgeon: 

"  How  do  you  do,  doctor  ?  " 

"  I  have  enough  to  do,"  replied  he  shaking  his 
head  sadly,  "  You  have  made  wretched  work  for 
us." 

These  officers  were  not  strangers  to  each  other 
for  they  had  met  when  the  two  frigates  were 
lying  at  Norfolk,  some  months  before. 

I  now  set  to  work  to  render  all  the  aid  in  my 
power  to  the  sufferers.  Our  carpenter,  named 
Reed,  had  his  leg  cut  off.  I  helped  to  carry  him 
to  the  after  wardroom ;  but  he  soon  breathed  out 
his  life  there — and  then  I  assisted  in  throwing 
his  mangled  remains  overboard. 

We  got  out  the  cots  as  fast  as  possible  for  most 
of  the  wounded  were  stretched  out  on  the  gory 
deck.  One  poor  fellow  who  laid  with  a  broken 
thigh,  begged  me  to  give  him  a  drink  of  water. 
I  gave  him  some.  He  looked  unutterable  grati 
tude,  drank — and  died. 

It  was  with  exceeding  difficulty  that  I  moved 
through  the  steerage,  it  was  so  covered  with 
mangled  men  and  so  slippery  with  streams  of 
blood.  There  was  a  poor  boy  crying  as  if  his 
heart  would  break.  He  had  been  the  servant  to 
the  bold  boatswain  whose  head  had  been  dashed 
to  pieces  by  a  cannon  ball.  Poor  boy!  He  felt 


HEARTRENDING  SCENES.  in 

that  he  lost  his  only  friend.  I  tried  to  comfort  him 
by  reminding  him  that  he  ought  to  be  thankful 
for  having  escaped  death  himself. 

Here  also  I  met  one  of  my  messmates  who 
showed  the  utmost  joy  at  seeing  me  alive  for  he 
had  heard  that  I  had  been  killed.  He  was  look 
ing  up  his  messmates  which,  he  said,  was  always 
done  by  sailors  after  a  battle.  We  found  two  of 
our  mess  wounded.  One  was  the  Swede,  Log- 
holm,  who  came  so  near  drowning,  a  few  months 
before.  We  held  him  while  the  surgeon  cut  off 
his  leg  above  the  knee. 

The  task  was  most  painful  to  behold,  the  sur 
geon  using  his  knife  and  saw  on  human  flesh 
and  bones  as  freely  as  the  butcher  at  the  shambles 
on  the  carcass  of  a  beast.  Our  other  messmate 
suffered  still  more  than  the  Swede.  He  was  sadly 
mutilated  about  the  legs  and  thighs  with  splinters. 
Such  scenes  of  suffering  as  I  saw  in  that  ward 
room  I  hope  never  to  witness  again. 

Most  of  our  officers  and  men  were  taken  on 
board  the  victor  ship.  I  was  left,  with  a  few 
others,  to  take  care  of  the  wounded.  My  master, 
the  sailing  master,  was  also  among  the  officers 
who  continued  in  our  ship.  Most  of  the  men 
who  remained  were  unfit  for  any  service,  having 
broken  into  the  spirit  room  and  made  themselves 
drunk.  Some  broke  into  the  purser's  room  and 


ii2  SCENES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 

helped  themselves  to  clothing  while  others,  by 
previous  agreement,  took  possession  of  their 
dead  messmates'  property. 

For  my  own  part  I  was  content  to  help  myself 
to  a  little  of  the  officers'  provisions  which  did 
me  more  good  than  could  be  obtained  from  rum. 
What  was  worse  than  all,  however,  was  the  folly 
of  the  sailors  in  giving  spirits  to  their  wounded 
messmates,  since  it  only  served  to  aggravate  their 
distress. 

Among  the  wounded  was  a  brave  fellow  named 
Wells.  After  the  surgeon  had  amputated  and 
dressed  his  arm,  he  walked  about  in  fine  spirits — 
as  if  he  had  received  only  a  slight  injury.  Indeed, 
under  the  operation  he  manifested  a  similar  hero 
ism,  observing  to  the  surgeon: 

"  I  have  lost  my  arm  in  the  service  of  my 
country  but  I  don't  mind  it  doctor,  it's  the  fortune 
of  war." 

Cheerful  and  gay  as  he  was  he  soon  died.  His 
companions  gave  him  rum ;  he  was  attacked  by 
fever  and  died.  Thus  his  messmates  actually 
killed  him  with  kindness. 

We  had  all  sorts  of  dispositions  and  tempera 
ments  among  our  crew.  To  me  it  was  a  matter 
of  great  interest  to  watch  their  various  manifesta 
tions.  Some  who  had  lost  their  messmates,  ap 
peared  to  care  nothing  about  it  while  others  were 


"On  BILL!"  113 

grieving  with  all  the  tenderness  of  women.  Of 
these  was  the  survivor  of  two  seamen  who  had 
formerly  been  soldiers  in  the  same  regiment.  He 
bemoaned  .the  loss  of  his  comrade  with  expres 
sions  of  profoundest  grief. 

There  were,  also,  two  boatswain's  mates  named 
Adams  and  Brown,  who  had  been  messmates  for 
several  years  in  the  same  ship.  Brown  was 
killed  or  so  wounded  that  he  died  soon  after  the 
battle.  It  was  really  a  touching  spectacle  to  see 
the  rough,  hardy  features  of  the  brave  old  sailor, 
streaming  with  tears  as  he  picked  the  dead  body 
of  his  friend  from  among  the  wounded  and 
gently  carried  it  to  .the  ship's  side,  saying  to  the 
inanimate  form  he  bore : 

"  Oh  Bill !  We  have  sailed  together  in  a  number 
of  ships,  we  have  been  in  many  gales  and  some 
battles.  But  this  is  the  worst  day  I  have  seen! 
We  must  now  part !  " 

Here  he  dropped  the  body  into  the  sea  and 
then  a  fresh  torrent  of  tears  streaming  over  his 
weather-beaten  face,  he  added : 

"  I  can  do  no  more  for  you,  Bill.  Farewell ! 
God  be  with  you !  " 

Here  was  an  instance  of  genuine  friendship, 
worth  more  than  the  heartless  professions  of 
thousands  who,  in  the  fancied  superiorty  of  .their 
elevated  position  in  the  social  circle,  will  deign 


ii4  SCENES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 

nothing  but  a  silly  sneer  at  this  record  of  a 
sailor's  grief. 

It  was  a  rather  singular  circumstance  that,  in 
both  the  contending  frigates,  the  second  boat 
swain's  mate  bore  the  name  of  William  Brown; 
and  that  they  were  both  killed.  Yet  such  was 
the  fact. 

The  great  number  of  wounded  kept  our  sur 
geon  and  his  mate  busily  employed  at  their  horrid 
work  until  late  at  night  and  it  was  a  long  time 
before  they  had  much  leisure. 

I  remember  passing  round  the  ship  on  the  day 
after  the  battle.  Coming  to  a  hammock,  I  found 
some  one  in  it,  apparently  asleep.  I  spoke.  He 
made  no  answer.  I  looked  into  the  hammock — 
he  was  dead.  My  messmates  coming  up,  we 
threw  the  corpse  overboard — it  was  no  time  for 
useless  ceremony.  The  man  had  probably  crawled 
into  his  hammock  (badly  wounded)  the  day  be 
fore  and,  not  being  noticed  in  the  general  distress, 
bled  to  death ! 

When  the  prize  crew  from  the  United  States 
first  boarded  our  frigate  to  take  possession  our 
men,  heated  with  the  fury  of  the  battle,  exasper 
ated  by  the  sight  of  their  dead  and  wounded  ship 
mates  (and  rendered  dangerous  by  the  rum  they 
had  obtained  from  the  spirit  room)  felt  and  ex 
hibited  some  disposition  to  fight  their  captors. 


CLEANING  THE  WRECK.  115 

But  after  the  confusion  had  subsided  and  part  of 
our  men  were  snugly  stowed  away  in  the  Ameri 
can  ship  and  the  remainder  found  themselves 
kindly  used  in  their  own,  the  utmost  good  feeling 
began  to  prevail. 

We  took  hold  and  cleansed  the  ship,  using  hot 
vinegar  to  take  out  the  scent  of  the  blood  that 
dyed  the  white  of  our  planks  with  crimson.  We 
also  took  hold  and  aided  in  fitting  out  our  dis 
abled  frigate  for  her  voyage.  This  [after  two 
days  of  hard  work]  being  accomplished,  both 
ships  sailed  in  company  for  the  American  coast. 

I  soon  felt  myself  perfectly  at  home  with  the 
American  seamen;  so  much  so  that  I  preferred 
to  mess  with  them.  My  shipmates  also  partici 
pated  in  similar  feelings  in  both  ships.  All  idea 
that  we  had  been  trying  to  shoot  each  other's 
brains  out  so  shortly  before,  seemed  forgotten. 
We  ate  together,  drank  together,  joked,  sang, 
laughed  and  told  yarns.  In  short,  a  perfect  union 
of  ideas,  feelings  and  purposes  seemed  to  exist 
among  all  hands. 

A  corresponding  state  of  unanimity  existed,  I 
was  told,  among  the  officers.  Commodore  De- 
catur  showed  himself  to  be  a  gentleman  as  well 
as  a  hero  in  his  treatment  of  the  officers  of  the 
Macedonian.  When  Captain  Garden  offered  his 
sword  to  the  commodore,  he  remarked  as  he  did 
so: 


n6  SCENES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 

"  I  am  an  undone  man.  I  am  the  first  British 
naval  officer  that  has  struck  his  flag  to  an 
American ! " 

The  noble  commodore  either  refused  to  receive 
the  sword  or  immediately  returned  it,  smiling  as 
he  said : 

"  You  are  mistaken,  sir.  Your  Guerrlere  has 
been  taken  by  us,  so  the  flag  of  a  frigate  was 
struck  before  yours." 

This  news  somewhat  revived  the  spirits  of  the 
old  captain.  But,  no  doubt,  he  still  felt  his  soul 
sting  with  shame  and  mortification  at  the  loss  of 
his  ship.  Participating  as  he  did  in  the  haughty 
spirit  of  the  British  aristocracy,  it  was  natural  for 
him  to  feel  galled  and  wounded  to  the  quick  in 
the  position  of  a  conquered  man. 

We  were  now  making  the  best  of  our  way  to 
America.  Notwithstanding  the  patched  up  con 
dition  of  the  Macedonian,  she  was  far  superior 
in  a  sailing  capacity  to  her  conqueror.  The 
United  States  had  always  been  a  dull  sailer  and 
had  been  christened  by  the  name  of  Old  Wagon. 
Whenever  a  boat  came  alongside  of  our  frigate 
and  the  boatswain's  mate  was  ordered  to  "  pipe 
away "  the  boat's  crew,  he  used  to  sound  his 
shrill  call  on  the  whistle  and  bawl  out: 

"  Away,  Wagoners,  away  !  "  instead  of  "  Away, 
United  States  men,  away !  " 


"  AWAY,  WAGONERS,  AWAY  !"          117 

This  piece  of  pleasantry  used  to  be  rebuked  by 
the  officers  but  in  a  manner  that  showed  that  they 
enjoyed  the  joke.  They  usually  replied: 

"  Boatswain's  mate,  you  rascal,  pipe  away 
United  States  men,  not  Wagoners.  We  have 
no  wagoners  on  board  of  a  ship !  " 

Still,  in  spite  of  rebuke,  the  joke  went  on  until 
it  grew  stale  by  repetition.  One  thing  was  made 
certain,  however,  by  the  sailing  qualities  of  the 
Macedonian;  which  was,  that  if  we  had  been 
disposed  to  escape  from  our  foe  before  the  action, 
we  could  have  done  so  with  all  imaginable  ease. 
This,  however,  would  justly  have  exposed  us  to 
disgrace,  while  our  capture  did  not. 
(End  of  Leech's  narrative.) 


CHAPTER  XL 
TRIUMPHANT  RETURN  TO  PORT. 

Captain  Garden  had  entered  into  this  momen 
tous  battle  with  consummate  skill  and  shrewd 
ness — but  he  was  fatally  mistaken  in  his  surmises. 
He  at  first  supposed  that  his  antagonist  was  the 
American  frigate  Essex  which,  as  he  knew,  was 
armed  almost  entirely  with  short  range  guns  and, 
quickly  discovering  that  he  had  the  superiority 
in  sailing,  he  held  his  ship  at  long  range  so  that 
his  long  i8-pounders  would  be  effective  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  American  short  cannon.  He 
soon  discovered  his  mistake  and  gallantly  came 
to  close  quarters — but  not  before  he  had  sustained 
irreparable  damage. 

While  the  loss  in  the  Macedonian  had  been 
frightful  (amounting  to  more  than  one-third  of 
the  entire  ship's  company),  as  so  graphically  de 
scribed  by  young  Leech,  the  casualties  in  the 
United  States  were  insignificant :  there  being  only 
five  men  killed  and  seven  wounded  as  opposed  to 
the  thirty-six  killed  and  sixty-eight  wounded  in 
the  English  ship.  The  United  States  was  only 
ten  or  twelve  feet  longer  than  her  rival  and, 


DISPROPORTIONATE  LOSSES.  119 

though  being  inferior  in  sailing  qualities,  she 
was  stronger  and  better  armed  and  equipped — as 
Captain  Garden  well  knew  in  advance.  The  fol 
lowing  table  will  fairly  represent  the  strength  of 
the  contending  frigates : 

COMPARATIVE  FORCES  AND  LOSSES. 

Gnus         Lbs.          Crew      Killed    Wounded    Total  Time 

United  States 54          787          478  5  7  12  ih.  30111. 

Macedonian 49          555          297          36          68          104 

Scarcely  any  injury  was  sustained  in  the 
American's  hull  or  rigging  so  that,  after  splicing 
some  ropes  and  making  a  few  repairs,  she  was 
in  a  condition  to  enter  upon  a  similar  action  two 
hours  after  the  Macedonian  surrendered.  The 
English  frigate,  on  the  other  hand,  was  com 
pletely  dismantled — clearly  showing  the  immense 
superiority  of  American  naval  construction,  arma 
ment  and  equipment. 

When  the  news  of  this  second  frigate  action 
reached  England,  it  created  the  deepest  gloom. 
At  first  it  was  not  believed  for  the  London  Times, 
in  its  issue  of  December  28,  1812,  said:  "  There 
is  a  report  that  another  English  frigate,  the 
Macedonian,  has  been  captured  by  an  American. 
We  shall  certainly  be  very  backward  in  believing 
a  second  recurrence  of  such  a  national  disgrace. 
....  We  have  heard  that  the  statement  is  dis 
credited  at  the  Admiralty  but  we  know  not  on 


I2O        TRIUMPHANT  RETURN  TO  PORT. 

what  precise  grounds.  Certainly  there  was  a 
time  when  it  would  not  have  been  believed  that 
the  American  navy  could  have  appeared  upon 
the  seas  after  a  six  months'  war  with  England ; 
much  less  that  it  could,  within  that  period,  have 
been  twice  victorious.  Sed  tempora  mutantur!" 

The  uncomfortable  suspicion  evidently  grew 
and,  on  the  next  day,  the  acute  pang  of  confirma 
tion  extorted  from  the  British  lion  the  following 
cry :  "  Oh  miserable  advocates !  Why,  this 
renders  the  charge  of  mismanagement  far  heavier 
than  before!  In  the  name  of  God,  what  was 
done  with  this  immense  superiority  of  force? 
Why  was  not  a  squadron  of  observation  off  every 
port  which  contained  an  American  ship  of  war? 
Why  was  not  Rodgers  intercepted  with  his  whole 
squadron  and  taken  within  sight  of  his  own 
coasts  ?  " 

On  the  following  day  The  Thunderer's  rage 
subsided  into  the  following  lament :  "  Oh,  what 
a  charm  is  hereby  dissolved!  What  hopes  will 
be  excited  in  the  breasts  of  our  enemies!  The 
land  spell  of  the  French  is  broken  [alluding  to 
Napoleon's  disastrous  retreat  from  Moscow]  and 
so  is  our  sea  spell." 

In  its  issue  of  December  26,  1812,  The  London 
Morning  Chronicle,  with  greater  moderation 
asks :  "  Is  it  not  sickening  to  see  that  no  ex- 


A  HAZARDOUS  RETURN.  121 

perience  has  been  sufficient  to  rouse  our  Ad 
miralty  to  take  measures  that  may  protect  the 
British  flag  from  such  disgrace?" 

Although  the  United  States  had  won  a  signal 
victory  over  the  Macedonian,  it  was  yet  far  from 
certain  that  she  would  secure  the  fruits  of  the 
battle.  The  vessels  were  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Atlantic  and  had  a  long  distance  to  sail  be 
fore  they  could  reach  an  American  port. 

Young  Leech  describes  the  home  passage  as 
follows :  "  Our  voyage  was  one  of  considerable 
excitement.  The  seas  swarmed  with  British 
cruisers  and  it  was  extremely  doubtful  whether 
the  United  States  would  elude  their  grasp  and 
reach  the  protection  of  an  American  port  with  her 
prize.  I  hoped  most  sincerely  to  avoid  them,  as 
did  most  of  my  old  shipmates.  Our  former  offi 
cers,  of  course,  were  anxious  for  a  sight  of  a 
British  flag. 

"  But  we  saw  none  and,  after  a  prosperous 
voyage,  the  welcome  cry  of  '  Land  ho ! '  was 
heard." 

Entering  the  eastern  end  of  Long  Island 
Sound,  the  frigates  made  the  port  of  New  Lon 
don.  The  United  States  came  safely  to  anchor 
but  the  Macedonian,  owing  to  a  sudden  shift 
in  the  wind,  was  compelled  to  remain  in  the 
offing  several  hours.  Finally,  fearing  that  she 


122        TRIUMPHANT  RETURN  TO  PORT. 

might  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  hostile  squadron, 
she  made  for  Newport  where  the  prize  was 
warmly  greeted. 

By  this  time  most  of  the  English  wounded 
were  well  on  the  road  to  recovery.  The  last  one 
to  die  was  Thomas  Whittaker,  who  had  been 
badly  injured  by  splinters.  He  suffered  such 
pain  that  he  finally  became  crazed  so  that  it  was 
necessary  to  confine  him.  Just  before  land  was 
sighted  he  was  mercifully  relieved  from  his 
sufferings  by  death.  Sewing  up  his  body  in  his 
hammock  his  messmates  placed  it  on  a  grating  in 
a  bow  port.  Midshipman  Archer  of  the  Mace 
donian  read  the  beautiful  burial  service  of  the 
Church  of  England  and  at  the  words : 

"  We  commit  the  body  of  our  brother  to  the 
deep,"  the  grating  was  elevated  and,  amid  pro 
found  silence,  the  body  splashed  heavily  into  the 
sea. 

The  wounded  were  now  sent  ashore  where 
they  received  every  attention  while  the  prisoners 
were  confined  in  a  barn  under  a  not  very  strict 
guard  ;  for  it  appears  many  of  them  escaped — not 
to  return  to  the  British  service  but  to  keep  away 
from  it. 

After  a  short  stay  at  Newport  the  Macedonian 
got  under  weigh  and,  joining  the  United  States 
at  New  London,  both  ships  proceeded  to  New 


AN   1812  POWDER  BOY  CARRYING  CARTRIDGES 
Drawn  from  a  contemporaneous  sketch. 


SHOWING  VISITORS  ABOUT.  123 

York  by  the  Hell  Gate  route ;  the  men  in  both 
ships  being  kept  busy  answering  cheers  from 
passing  craft. 

Dropping  anchor  near  Ward  Island,  the  frig 
ates  were  visited  by  many  thousand  people  and 
as  Samuel  records :  "  Finding  them  extremely 
inquisitive  and  being  tolerably  good  natured  my 
self,  I  found  profitable  business  in  conducting 
them  about  the  ship,  describing  the  action  and 
pointing  out  the  places  where  particular  individ 
uals  fell.  For  these  services  I  gained  some  money 
and  much  good  will. 

"  The  people  who  had  been  to  see  us,  on  return 
ing  to  the  shore,  used  to  tell  how  an  English  boy 
had  conducted  them  all  over  the  ship  and  told 
them  the  particulars  of  the  fight.  It  soon  became 
quite  common,  for  those  who  came  afterward, 
to  inquire  if  I  was  '  that  English  boy  taken '  in 
her?" 

It  was  by  means  of  the  money  and  good  will 
thus  earned  that  Samuel  finally  made  his  escape 
from  the  British  service.  Of  course,  the  Ameri 
can  officers  could  not  let  him  go  free  because  they 
were  responsible  for  their  prisoners  so  that,  when 
an  exchange  was  effected,  they  could  be  pro 
duced.  Then  again,  as  Leech  well  knew,  if 
he  attempted  to  escape  a  horrible  punishment 
awaited  him  from  the  lash  or  noose — possibly 
9 


124        TRIUMPHANT  RETURN  TO  PORT. 

both — if  he  ever  again  was  caught  by  the  British, 
for  his  act  would  be  deemed  desertion.  Further 
more,  the  Admiralty  offered  special  bounty  for 
the  apprehension  of  any  deserter  who  had  been 
captured  by  the  Americans. 

Fully  alive  to  the  danger  attending  it,  Samuel 
determined  to  escape  and  made  his  plans  accord 
ingly.  Mr.  Tinker,  the  pilot  who  took  the  frig 
ates  from  New  London  to  New  York,  very 
kindly  offered  to  take  Leech  as  an  apprentice  if 
he  once  got  free ;  in  fact,  many  of  the  visitors  to 
the  frigate  were  so  pleased  with  the  "  bright 
English  lad  "  that  they  offered  him  any  assistance 
he  might  desire. 

No  time  was  to  be  lost,  however,  if  Leech  was 
to  embrace  this,  probably,  his  only  opportunity 
ever  to  escape  from  the  British  for  he  learned 
that  a  cartel  was  on  its  way  to  New  York  for 
the  purpose  of  conveying  all  the  English  officers 
and  seamen  to  Halifax.  Indeed,  the  boat  was  ex 
pected  to  arrive  at  any  moment. 

On  the  day  before  Christmas  there  was  an 
unusual  number  of  visitors  aboard  the  prize  frig 
ate  and,  as  there  was  a  large  proportion  of  women 
who  could  not  very  well  climb  the  rope  ladder 
up  the  Macedonian's  steep  sides,  Captain  Carden 
very  gallantly  caused  a  hogshead  to  be  rigged  so 
that  after  one  head  had  been  knocked  in  and  part 


GETTING  LADIES  ABOARD.  125 

of  the  front  cut  out,  a  comfortable  "  elevator  car  " 
was  produced  by  placing  a  seat  athwart  it. 

This  "  hogshead  "  was  lowered  from  a  yard- 
arm  into  the  shore  boat  alongside  of  the  frigate. 
One  lady  at  a  time  seated  herself  in  the  "  car  " 
and,  throwing  a  flag  around  her  feet,  was  merrily 
hoisted  up  by  a  gang  of  jolly  tars.  Gaining  the 
level  of  the  deck,  the  hogshead  was  swung  inboard 
and  the  lady  could  step  out  with  ease.  "  This 
contrivance,"  records  Leech,  "  afforded  a  great 
deal  of  amusement  and  kept  the  British  officers 
and  merry  tars  agreeably  busy  waiting  on  their 
fair  visitors. 

It  was  when  this  scene  of  unusual  activity  was 
at  its  height,  that  Samuel  made  his  bold  dash 
for  liberty.  He  made  arrangements  with  the 
American  boatswain,  Mr.  Dawson,  to  have  his 
clothing  sent  to  New  York  if  he  (Leech)  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  clear.  Noticing  a  small  colored 
boy  in  a  boat  alongside  the  Macedonian,  Leech 
quietly  asked : 

"  Can  you  tell  me  where  I  can  get  some  geese 
and  turkeys  on  shore  for  our  officers  ?  " 

"  I  guess  you  can  get  some  at  the  houses," 
responded  the  youth." 

"  Well,  then,"  continued  Leech,  "  will  you  set 
me  ashore.  I  want  to  get  some  for  our  officers." 
To  this  the  colored  boy  replied : 


126        TRIUMPHANT  RETURN  TO  PORT. 

"  Yes,  if  you  will  go  and  ask  my  master  who 
is  on  board  your  ship." 

This  was  an  obstacle  to  Samuel's  plans  he  had 
not  foreseen.  He  knew  that  the  master  would 
not  give  the  desired  permission  so  he  gave  over 
the  attempt  in  despair. 

Going  below,  he  met  one  of  his  shipmates,  a 
boy  two  years  younger  than  himself,  named  James 
Day.  Leech  revealed  to  him  his  plan  to  escape 
and  urged  him  to  go  with  him.  Day  at  first 
declined  to  take  the  risk,  giving  as  his  reason  that 
he  had  no  money  with  which  to  pay  expenses. 

"  But  I  have  money,"  replied  Leech,  "  and  as 
long  as  I  have  a  shilling  you  shall  have  half  of  it." 

"  But  I  am  afraid  we  cannot  get  away  without 
being  caught  and  so  get  a  thorough  flogging — 
and  perhaps  be  hung,"  protested  Day. 

A  new  idea  had  now  struck  our  hero  and 
clutching  Day  by  the  arm  he  said : 

"  Never  mind  that.  I  have  contrived  that  busi 
ness.  The  boat's  waiting  to  set  us  on  shore. 
Come  along,  Jim,  don't  be  frightened.  '  Nothing 
venture,  nothing  have,'  you  know.  Come,  come. 
Here's  the  boat  alongside,"  and,  fairly  dragging 
the  boy,  Leech  returned  to  the  gangway  and 
boldly  assured  the  colored  lad  that  his  master  had 
given  the  desired  consent,  provided  haste  was 
made.  The  two  runaways  jumped  into  the  boat 


A  DASH  FOR  LIBERTY.  127 

and,  in  a  jiffy,  were  being  pulled  toward  the 
shore. 

This  was  the  critical  moment  of  the  undertak 
ing  and  Samuel's  heart  was  fairly  pumping  with 
anxiety  and  fear.  Every  moment  he  imagined 
he  heard  a  stern  command  from  the  frigate  to 
return.  Every  rattle  aboard  he  construed  to  be 
a  pursuing  boat  making  after  him. 

At  one  moment  his  heart  fairly  jumped  into  his 
throat,  when  a  harsh  voice  did  hail  them  from 
the  frigate.  It  was  not  from  a  British  officer, 
however,  but  from  the  colored  boy's  master  who 
shouted  out: 

"  Where  are  you  going  with  that  boat  ?  " 

Recovering  from  the  fright,  Leech  pursuaded 
the  negro  that  his  master  was  only  bidding  him 
to  make  haste,  so  the  lad  replied : 

"  I  am  going  to  get  some  geese,  sir,"  and  pulled 
on  so  they  were  beyond  reach  of  hearing.  In 
another  moment  Leech,  for  the  first  time  and  to 
his  unspeakable  delight,  stood  on  American  soil — 
a  free  lad.  He  never  learned  if  the  colored  boy's 
master  ever  asked  if  he  was  not  the  biggest 
"  goose "  he  was  going  after.  Leech  gladly 
gave  him  half  a  dollar  and  set  out  on  foot  for 
New  York,  some  ten  miles  distant. 

A  ten-mile  walk,  in  former  days  was  a  mere 
trifle  to  the  sturdy  English  runaway.  Many  a 


128        TRIUMPHANT  RETURN  TO  PORT. 

time  had  he  covered  that  distance  among  the 
pleasant  fields  and  parks  about  Wanstead  and 
Blenheim.  But  now  he  discovered  that  he  had 
been  aboard  ship  so  long  that  less  than  half  that 
distance  exhausted  him — it  required  time  to  re 
gain  his  "  land  legs."  So,  when  yet  some  distance 
from  the  city,  the  boys  put  up  at  a  roadside 
tavern. 

The  inmates  seemed  somewhat  surprised  to  see 
two  lads  asking  for  lodgings  in  such  a  confident 
manner  but,  when  they  learned  that  they  were 
deserters  from  the  British  frigate,  they  extended 
every  hospitality.  Forming  a  circle  round  the 
fireplace  in  the  public  room,  they  listened  atten 
tively  to  the  narrative  and  songs  of  the  runaways. 
At  a  late  hour  the  boys  were  shown  into  a  clean 
room  and,  for  the  first  time  in  years,  they  slept 
in  a  bed. 

"  It  seemed  strange  to  us,"  recorded  Leech, 
"  to  find  ourselves  in  a  bed  after  sleeping  so  long 
in  hammocks.  Nevertheless  we  slept  soundly 
and,  to  our  inexpressible  pleasure,  arose  on  the 
following  morning  at  our  leisure  instead  of  being 
driven  out  by  a  swearing  boatswain  at  our  heels." 

After  a  hearty  breakfast  (doubly  delicious  on 
account  of  the  shore  cooking  and  fresh  provi 
sions)  Leech,  with  all  the  dignity  he  could  sum 
mon,  marched  proudly  up  to  the  "  captain's 


A  KIND  TAVERN-KEEPER.  129 

office  "  and  asked  for  a  settlement,  clinking  the 
money  noisily  in  the  palm  of  his  hand  as  an 
earnest  of  his  good  faith  and  "  financial  ability." 
Truly,  it  was  one  of  the  proudest  moments  of  his 
life.  He  was  somewhat  crestfallen  (though  none 
the  less  pleased)  when  the  host  refused  to  take  a 
cent  for  the  entertainment. 

Three  days  after  Leech's  escape  from  the 
Macedonian,  the  cartel  arrived  and  on  the  same 
day  sailed  for  Nova  Scotia  with  the  remaining 
English  prisoners.  Lucky,  indeed,  was  it  that  our 
hero  made  the  venture  when  he  did. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
TRIALS   OF  A   DESERTER. 

Arriving  in  New  York  .the  runaways  met  sev 
eral  other  deserters  from  the  Macedonian  and 
through  them  found  lodgings  in  a  sailors'  board 
ing  house  kept  by  a  widow  named  Elms,  near  the 
old  Fly  Market  in  Front  Street.  After  spending 
a  week  in  gratifying  a  natural  desire  to  see  a 
strange  city,  Leech  was  startled  one  day  by  the 
roaring  of  cannon.  It  proved  to  be  salutes  in 
honor  of  the  United  States'  and  Macedonian's 
arrival  in  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  those  ships 
having  made  the,  then,  dangerous  passage 
through  Hell  Gate. 

Leech  now  ventured  aboard  his  old  home  ship, 
to  get  his  clothes  from  Boatswain  Dawson  as 
pre-arranged — and  the  first  person  he  met  gave 
him  a  fright.  It  was  none  other  than  Lieutenant 
Nicholson  of  the  United  States  who  eyed  our 
hero  sharply  but  afterward  gave  him  a  kindly 
reception.  The  American  sailors,  also  congrat 
ulated  him  on  his  success  in  getting  clear  of  the 
British  frigate. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  citizens  of  New 


BANQUET  OF  VICTORY.  131 

York  gave  to  the  officers  and  men  of  the  United 
States  a  public  dinner  at  the  City  Hotel  and  free 
admission  to  a  theatrical  entertainment.  As  a 
promising  citizen  of  America,  young  Leech  was 
invited  to  attend.  He  accepted  but,  on  overhaul 
ing  his  wardrobe,  found  that  his  English  uniform 
would  be  unpleasantly  conspicuous  on  account 
of  the  regulation  buttons.  This  difficulty  was 
overcome,  however,  by  the  skill  of  his  widowed 
landlady  who  managed  to  cover  the  metal  buttons 
with  blue  cloth. 

This  celebrated  dinner  (and  after  performance) 
is  a  matter  of  history  but  Leech  has  thrown  some 
interesting  side-lights  on  it  in  his  own  peculiar 
fashion.  He  said  the  dinner  was  "  followed  by 
more  than  the  usual  amount  of  drinking,  laughing 
and  talking ;  for,  as  liquor  was  furnished  in  great 
abundance,  the  men  could  not  resist  the  tempta 
tion  to  get  drunk.  As  they  left  the  room  to  go  to 
the  theater,  the  poor  plates  on  the  sideboard 
proclaimed  that  '  Jack  was  full  three  sheets  in  the 
wind/  Almost  everyone,  as  he  passed,  gave 
them  a  crack  crying  out  as  they  fell : 

"  '  Save  the  pieces/  " 

At  the  theater  Samuel  saw  Decatur  and  re 
cords  :  "  I  was  much  struck  with  the  appearance 
of  Decatur  that  evening  as  he  sat  in  full  uniform, 
his  pleasant  face  alive  with  the  excitement  of  the 


132  TRIALS  OF  A  DESERTER. 

occasion.  He  formed  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
appearance  he  made  when  he  visited  our  ship 
on  the  passage  to  New  York.  Then  he  wore  an 
old  straw  hat  and  a  plain  suit  of  clothes  which 
made  him  look  more  like  a  farmer  than  a  naval 
commander." 

Leech  concludes  his  account  by  saying  that, 
after  the  theater,  the  men  were  ordered  to  report 
to  the  frigate  the  next  morning  but : 

"  It  was  a  week  before  they  all  returned." 

Another  interesting  piece  of  information  Sam 
uel  gives  us  relates  to  a  little  trick  these  Yankee 
tars  played  on  Decatur.  He  says : 

"  Of  course,  this  profusion  of  praise  turned  the 
brains  of  some  of  these  old  tars  and  at  every 
opportunity  they  would  steal  ashore  for  a  spree. 
This  brought  them  into  trouble  and  some  to  the 
gangway  to  be  flogged.  To  avoid  the  punishment 
the  foxy  old  salts  would  visit  the  commodore's 
lady  with  some  piteous  tale,  begging  her  to  inter 
cede  for  them  with  the  captain.  This  she  did  with 
almost  constant  success.  The  lucky  tar  would 
then  go  on  board  telling  his  shipmates  that: 

" '  She  has  a  soul  to  be  saved.'  " 

Mention  has  been  made  in  these  pages  of  Jack 
Sadler,  the  bosom  friend  of  the  redoubtable  Bob 
Hammond.  Sadler  managed  to  get  ashore  and 
became  an  enthusiastic  Yankee.  He  enlisted  in 


DISTURBING  THE.  MEETING.  133 

the  army  and  was  quartered  at  Hartford.  One 
Sunday  his  company  was  marched  to  church  and 
the  good  minister  announced  as  his  text: 

"  Fear  God  and  honor  the  King."  Jack,  with 
vivid  recollection  of  many  a  cruel  lash  on  his 
back,  so  far  forgot  himself  as  to  jump  up  in  his 
pew  and  shout :  "  Don't  let  us  hear  about  the 
king— but  about  Congress  !  " 

The  dangers  and  difficulties  English  seamen 
experienced  in  entering  the  American  service  in 
those  days,  is  amusingly  described  by  Leech  as 
follows :  "  One  day,  I  was  sauntering  around  the 
wharves  with  my  companion,  James  Day,  when  I 
met  a  number  of  the  Macedonian  crew  who  had 
shipped  aboard  the  John  Adams  and  they  dragged 
me  aboard  with  them. 

"  To  avoid  being  detected  it  was  usual  for  our 
men  to  assume  new  names  and  to  hail  from  some 
American  port.  I  had  some  objection  to  this,  as 
I  feared  it  might  bring  me  into  the  awkward 
dilemma  of  the  Irishman  who  was  caught  aboard 
an  American  vessel  by  a  British  cruiser.  After 
he  declared  himself  an  American  the  officer  asked 
him: 

'  What  part  of  America  did  you  come  from  ?  ' 

1 '  I  used  to  belong  to  Philmadelph  but  now  I 

belong  to  Philmaph  York,'  replied  Paddy,  in  a 

vain   endeavor   to   conceal   the   '  flannel '   in   his 

brogue. 


134  TRIALS  OF  A  DESERTER. 

'  Well,  can  you  say  peas  ? '  continued  the 
officer. 

" '  Pase,  sir/  answered  Pat  and  he  was  duly 
transferred  to  the  English  ship." 

On  the  advice  of  his  former  shipmates,  Leech 
assumed  the  name  of  William  Harper  from  Pine 
Street,  Philadelphia ;  and,  going  aboard  the  cor- 
vet,  was  duly  paraded  before  the  officers  for  "  in 
spection."  One  of  them  said : 

"  Well,  my  boy,  what  is  your  name?  " 

"  William  Harper,  sir,"  confidently  responded 
the  lad. 

"  What  part  of  America  do  you  belong  to  ?  " 

"  Philadelphia,  sir."  Here  one  of  the  officers 
smiled  and  remarked :  "  Ah,  a  fellow  townsman. 
What  street  in  Philadelphia?  " 

"  Pine  street,  sir,"  replied  Samuel  with  the  ex 
pression  of  one  who  was  being  drawn  into  a  net. 

"  What  street  joins  Pine  street,  my  lad  ?  "  con 
tinued  his  tormenter  with  a  knowing  laugh. 

"  I  don't  remember,  sir,"  said  Leech  with  fast 
ebbing  confidence. 

"  Ah,  you  don't  remember,  do  you  ?  Quite  pos 
sibly,"  said  the  mischief-loving  officer,  for  he 
knew  pretty  well  all  about  Samuel's  antecedents. 
"  But,  at  least,  you  can  tell  us  in  what  state 
Philadelphia  is  situated  ?  " 

This  was  a  poser  for  the  poor  lad  and,  thinking 


A  TELL-TALE  BUTTON.  135 

to  get  off  with  the  honors  of  war  he  gaspingly 
replied  (not  really  knowing  what  he  was  saying)  : 

"  Gentlemen,  it  is  so  long  since  I  have  been 
in  Philadelphia  that— that— I— I— I— really  for 
get  what  state  the  city  is  in  unless  it  is  in  the 
state  of  rest." 

This  answer  seemed  to  please  some  of  the 
officers  immensely,  for  they  burst  out  laughing: 
but  the  one  questioning  Leech  (he  who  claimed 
to  be  "  a  fellow  townsman  ")  appeared  vexed,  for 
he  pointed  to  one  of  Leech's  English  buttons, 
which  had  (unknown  to  him)  relieved  itself  of 
its  cloth  covering,  and  said : 

"  Where  did  you  get  that  English  button  ?  Did 
you  pick  it  up  in  Philadelphia  ?  " 

This  was  a  shot  that  raked  Samuel  fore  and  aft. 
He  hauled  down  his  colors  and  remained  silent. 
The  officers  laughed  heartily  and  one  of  them 
said: 

"  Go  below,  my  lad ;  you  will  make  a  pretty 
good  Yankee." 

The  next  morning  Leech  was  taken  ashore  to 
sign  the  shipping  papers  but,  with  that  strong 
commonsense,  characteristic  of  him,  he  argued  to 
himself  that  there  were  too  many  men  from  the 
Macedonian  already  aboard  the  John  Adams  and, 
if  she  were  captured  there  would  be  small  chance 
of  escaping  discovery  and  a  noose  at  the  yard- 
arm  would  be  his  reward. 


136  TRIALS  OF  A  DESERTER. 

So  he  did  not  enlist  in  her.  This  decision  was 
backed  by  his  knowledge  that  strict  orders  had 
been  issued  from  the  Admiralty  to  keep  a  sharp 
watch  for  men  who  had  been  captured  by  Ameri 
can  war  ships.  While  Samuel's  reasoning  was 
correct  in  theory,  the  fact  was  that  the  John 

r  Adams  was  not  captured  by  the  enemy. 
After  two  weeks  of  idleness  and,  finding  that 
his  stock  of  money  accumulated  aboard  the 
Macedonian  was  fast  ebbing  away,  Leech  ac 
cepted  the  offer  of  an  Englishman  by  the  name  of 
Smith  (who  was  a  deserter  from  the  British  army 
but  was  then  employed  as  a  bootmaker  in  the 
firm  of  Benton  &  Co.,  in  Broadway)  to  become 
an  apprentice  in  the  "  art,  science,  secrets  and 
mysteries  of  a  cordwainer." 

"  Behold  me,  then,"  records  our  hero,  "  trans 
formed  from  the  character  of  a  runaway  British 
sailor  into  that  of  a  quiet  scholar,  at  the  feet  of 
St.  Crispin ;  where,  in  the  matter  of  awls,  wax- 
ends,  lapstones  and  pegs,  I  soon  became  quite 
proficient." 

It  is  altogether  likely  that  our  hero  would  have 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  the  "  art " 
of  shoemaking  had  it  not  been  for  a  rumor  that 
reached  him  one  day,  after  he  had  been  about  two 
months  in  his  new  service,  that  a  tall,  stout  sailor 
named  George  Turner  was  in  the  crew  of  the 


AN  AMERICAN  MAN-O'-WARSMAN  IN  1812. 
Drawn  from  a  contemporaneous  sketch. 


LOOKING  UP  A  RELATIVE.  137 

United  States.  Determined  to  investigate,  Sam 
uel,  one  fine  Sunday  morning  went  aboard  that 
frigate  and  was  heartily  received  by  some  of  his 
former  shipmates  of  the  Macedonian  who  had 
entered  the  American  service. 

Leech  soon  presented  himself  to  his  cousin  and, 
after  reminding  him  of  several  incidents  con 
nected  with  their  relatives  and  home  at  Wanstead, 
established  his  identity  before  that  worthy  tar. 
Turner  advised  the  youth  to  give  up  the  sea  and, 
very  kindly,  offered  him  a  home  in  Salem  where 
he  had  a  wife  and  family. 

Severing  his  connection  with  his  kind  em 
ployer  in  the  cordwainer  shop,  Leech  engaged 
steerage  passage  in  a  sloop  bound  for  Providence, 
for  five  dollars.  Before  that  vessel  sailed,  Sam 
uel  found  that  his  clothes  bag  had  been  robbed  by 
a  negro  and  the  master  of  the  craft,  to  save  the 
good  name  of  his  packet,  returned  to  Leech  two 
dollars  of  the  passage  money  as  compensation. 
From  Providence  he  proceeded  to  Boston  in  a 
coach  chartered  for  the  exclusive  use  of  a  party 
of  merry  sailors. 

On  his  arrival  in  Salem,  Samuel  was  warmly 
welcomed  by  Mrs.  Turner  who,  being  very  super 
stitious,  declared  that  she  knew  of  his  coming 
because  of  some  peculiar  antics  of  tea  leaves  in 
her  cup  that  morning. 


138  TRIALS  OF  A  DESERTER. 

A  few  weeks  afterward  the  good  woman 
aroused  Samuel  early  one  morning  and  hurried 
him  off  to  the  post  office  because  she  had  dreamed 
of  "  catching  fish."  Surely  enough,  our  hero 
soon  returned  with  a  letter  containing  a  hundred 
dollar  bill  from  her  husband. 

Having  no  steady  employment,  young  Leech 
spent  most  of  his  time  around  the  wharves  and 
shipping  where  he  saw  a  number  of  privateers. 
He  also  went  on  a  number  of  fishing  trips  in 
schooners.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  Leech  and 
his  party  came  near  being  captured  by  an  English 
war  ship.  The  party  had  been  out  all  night  and 
toward  morning,  being  tired  out,  nearly  every  one 
aboard  went  to  sleep. 

Luckily,  one  of  the  party,  Lewis  Deal,  who  had 
once  been  a  quartermaster  aboard  the  United 
States,  kept  a  weather  eye  open;  for  he  knew 
that  the  coast  was  alive  with  British  cruisers. 
Just  at  dawn,  the  report  of  a  cannon  close  by, 
startled  every  one  from  his  slumber  and  Deal 
exclaimed : 

"  There !  I  told  you  to  look  out  for  Johnny 
Bull !  " 

Looking  about,  they  saw  an  English  gun- 
brig  in  full  chase  of  a  Boston  sloop,  within  easy 
gunshot  of  them.  Hastily  weighing  anchor,  the 
fishing  party  made  sail  and  soon  reached  port  in 


A  NARROW  ESCAPE.  139 

safety — the  gun-brig  being  so  intent  on  her  chase 
that  she  failed  to  discover  the  excursionists  in  the 
uncertain  light  of  dawn.  For  a  moment,  how 
ever,  Samuel  has  painful  visions  of  swinging  at  a 
yard-arm  which  did  not  leave  him  until  the  brig 
was  fairly  out  of  gunshot. 

In  the  summer  of  1813  young  Leech  deter 
mined  to  enter  the  American  navy  and,  as  the 
Constitution,  Frolic  and  Siren  were  at  that  time 
in  Boston,  shipping  crews,  he  had  the  choice  of 
those  vessels.  His  preference  was  for  Old  Iron 
sides  but,  as  his  cousin  Turner  had  once  sailed 
under  the  commander  of  the  Siren,  George 
Parker,  and  highly  commended  that  officer,  Leech 
enlisted  in  that  brig. 

The  Siren,  owing  to  the  blockade  was  unable 
to  get  to  sea  for  several  months.  All  this  time 
her  crew  was  exercised  in  various  drills.  Samuel 
records :  "  My  first  impressions  of  the  American 
service  were  very  favorable.  The  captain  and 
officers  were  kind,  while  there  was  a  total  exemp 
tion  from  that  petty  tyranny  exercised  by  the  up 
start  midshipmen  in  the  British  service.  Our 
men  were  as  happy  as  men  ever  were  in  a  man- 
of-war. 

"  We  were  all  supplied  with  stout  leather  caps, 
something  like  those  used  by  firemen.  These 
were  crossed  by  two  strips  of  iron,  covered  with 
10 


140  TRIALS  OF  A  DESERTER. 

bear  skin  and  were  designed  to  defend  the  head, 
in  boarding  an  enemy's  ship,  from  cutlass  strokes. 
Strips  of  bear  skin  were  used  to  fasten  them  on 
and,  having  the  fur  on,  served  the  purpose  of 
false  whiskers  and  causing  us  to  look  as  fierce  as 
hungry  wolves." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
SIREN'S  LIVELY  CRUISE. 

Early  in  June,  1814,  the  Siren  was  ready  for 
sea  and,  getting  under  weigh  in  company  with 
the  famous  privateer  Grand  Turk,  stood  down 
the  harbor  bound  for  a  cruise  on  the  west  coast 
of  Africa.  In  passing  the  fort,  the  Siren  received 
the  usual  hail : 

"  Brig,  ahoy !    Where  are  you  bound  to?  " 

To  this  First  Lieutenant  John  B.  Nicholson 
(whom  Samuel  had  met  in  the  United  States 
after  her  action  with  the  Macedonian)  jocosely 
replied : 

"  There  and  back  again,  on  a  man-of-war's 
cruise ! " 

"  Such  a  reply,"  said  Leech,  "  would  not  have 
satisfied  a  British  sentry  but  we  shot  past  the  fort 
unmolested " ;  the  officers  of  the  fort  probably 
knowing,  full  well,  the  characters  of  the  passing 
ships. 

When  two  days  out  the  Grand  Turk  parted 
company,  not  to  be  seen  again  until  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic — and  then,  under  peculiar 
circumstances,  as  will  soon  appear. 


142  SIREN'S  LIVELY  CRUISE. 

Keeping  a  sharp  lookout  the  Siren  touched  at 
the  Canary  Islands  and  then  made  for  the  coast 
of  Africa  where  Captain  Parker  died.  A  service 
was  read  over  his  body  and  it  was  committed  to 
the  deep.  Scarcely  had  the  brig  got  under  sail 
again  when,  to  the  horror  of  all,  the  coffin  was 
seen  to  be  floating  in  the  wake  of  the  ship. 
"  The  reason  for  this,"  said  Leech,  "  was  that  the 
carpenter  bored  holes  in  the  top  and  bottom, 
when  he  should  have  made  them  in  the  top  only." 

Such  a  grewsome  accident  would  have  deterred 
a  more  superstitious  crew  from  continuing  on  the 
voyage  but  Captain  Nicholson  called  all  hands 
together  and  frankly  laid  the  situation  before 
them ;  offering  the  choice  of.  returning  home  or  of 
continuing  the  cruise.  With  three  hearty  cheers 
the  men.  expressed  their  unanimous  desire  to  con 
tinue  and  the  Siren  held  a  course  accordingly. 

Leech  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  Nicholson, 
saying :  "  He  was  a  noble-minded  man,  very  kind 
and  civil  to  his  crew.  Seeing  me  one  day  with 
rather  a  poor  hat  on,  he  called  me  aft  and  pre 
sented  me  with  one  of  his  own." 

One  morning  the  welcome  cry  "  Sail  ho ! " 
aroused  every  man  in  the  brig  and  attention  was 
attracted  to  a  strange  vessel  which  had  hove-to, 
with  her  courses  hauled  up.  At  first  it  was 
thought  that  she  might  be  a  British  man-of-war. 


ON  THE  AFRICAN  COAST.  143 

The  Siren  was  cleared  for  action  and  the  crew 
sent  to  battle  quarters  but  on  nearer  approach  the 
stranger  was  recognized  as  their  old  friend,  the 
privateer  Grand  Turk.  Her  commander  did  not 
seem  to  know  the  Siren  for,  after  assuring  him 
self  that  she  was  a  brig  of  war,  he  crowded  on 
all  sail  to  escape.  As  Captain  Nicholson  did  not 
care  to  chase,  she  was  soon  out  of  sight. 

Running  close  along  the  African  coast,  the 
Americans,  one  day,  saw  several  fires  burning  on 
the  hills  which,  on  investigation,  they  learned  was 
the  native  method  of  indicating  that  they  desired 
trade  with  the  passing  ship.  The  Siren  hove-to, 
the  negroes  put  off  in  canoes  and  a  quantity  of 
oranges,  limes,  cocoanuts,  tamarinds,  plantains, 
yams  and  bananas  were  taken  aboard  as  welcome 
additions  to  the  ship's  larder.  The  brig  remained 
here  several  days  in  the  vain  hope  of  falling  in 
with  English  traders. 

It  was  while  here  that  Leech  first,  really,  ap 
preciated  the  great  value  of  water.  He  records : 
"  We  began  to  experience  the  inconvenience  of  a 
hot  climate.  Our  men  were  covered  with  blotches 
or  boils.  To  make  it  worse,  was  the  want  of 
fresh  water.  We  were  placed  on  an  allowance  of 
two  quarts  a  day  for  each  man.  This  occasioned 
much  suffering  for,  after  mixing  our  Indian  meal 
for  pudding,  our  cassava  [a  root  which,  on  being 


144  SIREN'S  LIVELY  CRUISE, 

ground  made  tolerable  bread]  and  our  whiskey 
for  grog,  we  had  little  left  to  assuage  our  burning 
thirst. 

"  Some,  in  their  distress,  drank  large  quantities 
of  sea  water  which  only  increased  their  thirst 
and  made  them  sick.  Others  sought  relief  in 
chewing  lead,  tea  leaves  or  anything  that  would 
create  moisture.  Never  did  we  feel  more  de 
lighted  than  when  our  boat's  crew  announced  the 
discovery  of  a  pool  of  fine,  clear  water  near  the 
shore.  We  could  have  joined  in  the  most  enthu 
siastic  cold-water  song  ever  sung." 

One  night,  while  cruising  along  the  coast,  a 
large  ship  was  discovered  at  anchor  near  the 
shore.  Owing  to  the  darkness  it  could  not  be 
determined  whether  she  was  a  merchantman  or 
a  man-of-war,  so  the  utmost  caution  was  exer 
cised  in  approaching  her.  It  was  not  long  before 
all  doubt  as  to  her  character  was  dispelled  for, 
suddenly,  she  set  sail  and  made  chase  after  the 
Siren. 

By  the  aid  of  powerful  night  glasses  Captain 
Nicholson  saw  that  she  was  a  British  frigate — 
and  "  meant  business."  The  Siren  was  cleared 
for  action,  the  cannon  loaded,  matches  lit  and  the 
men  laid  down  by  their  guns,  fully  expecting  to 
be  prisoners  of  war  before  morning;  for  the 
wind  was  in  a  direction  favorable  for  the  frigate 
outcarrying  the  brig. 


A  SHREWD  YANKEE  TRICK.  145 

Again  visions  of  swinging  at  a  yard-arm  passed 
unpleasantly  through  the  mind  of  our  youthful 
hero  for,  to  all  appearances,  it  was  only  a  ques 
tion  of  a  few  hours  when  the  steadily  gaining 
pursuer  would  have  the  brig  under  her  guns. 

But  Leech  had  not  counted  on  the  resourceful 
ness  of  Yankee  commanders.  When  Nicholson 
realized  that  his  powerful  foe  was  rapidly  gain 
ing  on  him,  he  resorted  to  one  of  those  tricks  so 
successfully  practiced  by  our  privateersmen  in 
that  war. 

He  had  purposely  kept  a  light  in  full  view  of 
the  frigate,  as  if  bent  on  a  suicidal  desire  to  be 
captured.  When  his  pursuer  was  nearly  within 
gunshot,  however,  he  rigged  out  a  hogshead, 
which  was  sealed  up  and  so  weighted  that  it 
would  float  in  an  upright  position ;  and  on  top  of 
it  he  affixed  a  light,  similar  to  the  one  he  had 
been  carrying.  Dropping  the  hogshead  carefully 
overboard  with  its  decoy  signal  in  full  view,  he 
"  doused  "  the  Sirens  light.  Then,  changing  his 
course,  he  made  off  in  another  direction  leaving 
the  frigate  in  her  furious  pursuit  of  the  hogshead 
and  its  deceptive  light.  By  daybreak  the  frigate 
was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  Without  doubt  she 
"  captured "  the  hogshead  and  her  commander 
probably  indulged  in  a  prolonged  soliloquy  over 
the  "  singular  ingenuity  of  these  Yankees — as 
respects  seamanship." 


146  SIREN'S  LIVELY  CRUISE. 

The  next  adventure  the  Siren  had  was  equally 
sharp.  Discovering,  one  night,  an  English  mer 
chantman  at  anchor  in  Senegal  river,  Captain 
Nicholson  ran  down  to  her  and  hailed.  Receiving 
an  insolent  reply,  he  gave  the  order  to  fire — but 
instantly  countermanded  it.  But  it  was  too  late. 
The  guns  had  been  loaded  and  carefully  trained. 
The  men,  with  burning  matches,  stood  ready  at 
the  first  order  and  before  the  countermand  came 
they  had  discharged  the  broadside. 

The  swift  current  of  the  river  carried  the 
Siren  past  the  merchantman,  down  the  river.  She 
attempted  to  beat  up  again  but  the  unfortunate 
broadside  had  aroused  the  garrison  of  the  fort, 
which  commanded  the  river,  and  soon  a  rattling 
hail  of  "  large  size  "  cannon  balls  began  to  pass 
unpleasantly  close  to  the  heads  of  the  Yankee 
crew.  As  it  was  useless  to  attempt  the  capture 
under  such  circumstances,  Captain  Nicholson 
dropped  down  the  river,  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
fort,  to  await  daylight. 

Next  morning  the  merchantman  was  seen 
snugly  moored  under  the  guns  of  the  fort  and, 
as  she  was  filled  with  soldiers  and  had  the  pro 
tection  of  the  fort,  it  was  clear  that  a  stubborn 
resistance  would  be  made.  At  first  the  Ameri 
cans  contemplated  making  a  boat  attack  upon  her, 
under  cover  of  night.  The  Siren's  crew  begged 


"  BATTLE  OF  SENEGAL."  147 

Captain  Nicholson  for  permission  but,  after  care 
fully  considering  the  great  risks  he,  very  prop 
erly,  decided  to  give  it  over. 

Several  men  in  the  merchantman  were,  un 
doubtedly,  killed  or  wounded  and  had  it  not  been 
for  the  hasty  broadside,  she  might  have  been 
captured  by  boarding  and  carried  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  fort  without  the  garrison  knowing 
anything  about  it  until  morning.  The  Siren's 
crew  humorously  dubbed  this  affair  "  The  Battle 
of  Senegal." 

After  visiting  Cape  Three  Points,  Captain 
Nicholson  shaped  his  course  for  St.  Thomas ;  and 
it  was  on  this  run  that  he  met  his  match  in  Yankee 
nautical  cunning.  The  English  merchantman 
Jane  of  Liverpool,  was  discovered  and  in  the 
hope  of  decoying  her  under  his  guns  Captain 
Nicholson  displayed  English  colors — it  not  yet 
being  known  to  the  Americans  what  the  na 
tionality  of  the  stranger  was.  The  Jane  promptly 
responded  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and,  in 
return,  the  Siren  showed  American  colors. 

This  was  all  the  British  master  wanted  to  know 
and,  making  all  sail,  he  shaped  his  course  for 
St.  Thomas  which  was  a  neutral  port.  The  Siren 
crowded  on  every  stitch  of  canvas  that  would 
hold  the  wind  but  the  Jane  proved  to  be  the 
better  sailer  of  the  two  and  gained  the  harbor  in 


148  SIREN'S  LIVELY  CRUISE. 

safety.  In  .the  hope  of  catching  this  and  another 
English  merchantman  that  was  in  the  port,  the 
Siren  hovered  in  the  vicinity  several  days  and 
was  rewarded  by  a  rich  prize. 

In  a  few  days  a  sail  was  discovered  making 
for  St.  Thomas.  Hoisting  English  colors  and 
dressing  his  officers  in  British  uniforms  (placing 
them  in  conspicuous  places  so  that  they  could  be 
readily  seen  by  the  approaching  ship)  Captain 
Nicholson — doubtlessly  piqued  by  the  trick  the 
other  Britisher  had  played  on  him  and  determined 
to  show  that  Yankee  ingenuity  had  not  fallen 
below  par — leisurely  brought  his  brig  within  hail 
ing  distance  of  the  Englishman  when  he  called 
out: 

"Ship,  ahoy!" 

"Hello!"  was  the  reply. 

"What  ship  is  that?"  asked  the  American. 

"  The  ship  Barton." 

"Where  do  you  belong?" 

"  To  Liverpool." 

"  What  is  your  cargo?  " 

"  Redwood,  palm  oil  and  ivory." 

"  Where  are  you  bound  to  ?  " 

"  To  St.  Thomas." 

At  this  moment  the  English  flag  on  the  Siren 
was  hauled  down  and  in  its  place  was  run  up  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  and,  to  the  inexpressible  annoy- 


A  SURPRISED  CAPTAIN.  149 

ance  of  the  Englishman,  Captain  Nicholson 
hailed : 

"  Haul  down  your  colors !  " 

Young  Leech  records  :  "  The  old  captain  [of 
the  prize]  who,  up  to  this  time  had  been  enjoying 
a  nap  in  his  very  comfortable  cabin,  now  came  on 
deck  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  rubbing  his  eyes  and 
looking  so  exquisitely  ridiculous,  it  was  scarcely 
possible  to  avoid  laughing.  So  surprised  was  he, 
at  the  unexpected  termination  of  his  dreams,  that 
he  could  not  command  skill  enough  to  strike  his 
colors ;  which  was,  accordingly,  done  by  his  mate. 
As  they  had  .two  or  three  guns  aboard,  and  as 
some  of  the  men  looked  as  if  they  would  like  to 
fight,  our  captain  told  us,  if  they  fired,  not  to 
leave  enough  of  her  '  to  boil  a  tin  pot  with/ 
After  this  expressive  threat,  we  lowered  a  boat 
and  took  possession  of  our  prize." 

After  taking  out  what  goods  they  wanted,  the 
Americans  set  fire  to  her.  As  the  flames  got  fully 
under  headway  that  night  the  burning  ship  pre 
sented  an  impressive  sight  which  Leech  has 
described  as  follows  :  "  It  was  an  imposing  sight 
to  behold  the  antics  of  the  flames  leaping  from 
rope  to  rope  and  from  spar  to  spar  until  she  looked 
like  a  fire-cloud  resting  on  the  dark  surface  of  the 
water. 

"  Presently  her  spars  began  to  fall,  her  masts 


150  SIREN'S  LIVELY  CRUISE. 

went  by  the  board,  her  loaded  guns  went  off, 
shaking  up  a  shower  of  sparks  which  were  car 
ried  high  up  in  the  heaven  by  the  hot  current  of 
air,  until  they  flickered  out  of  sight.  The  hull 
was  burned  to  the  water's  edge  and,  what  was  a 
few  hours  before  a  fine,  trim  ship,  looking  like  a 
living  creature  of  the  deep,  lay  a  shapeless 
charred  mass,  whose  blackened  outlines  shadowed 
in  the  clear,  still  waves,  seemed  like  the  grim 
spirit  of  war  seeking  its  prey." 

The  men  in  the  Barton  were  taken  to  St. 
Thomas  where  they  were  .transferred  to  the 
aforementioned  Jane.  Sailing  again  on  a  new 
venture,  the  Siren  captured  the  English  brig 
Adventure,  laden  with  "  monkeys,  an  African 
prince  " — and  other  things.  The  monkeys  were 
destroyed  with  the  brig  but  the  African  who,  by 
the  way,  had  received  a  tolerably  fair  education  in 
England  and  was  strikingly  polite  and  pleasant  in 
his  ways,  shipped  aboard  the  Siren.  He  gave  his 
name  as  Samuel  Quaqua. 

Again  returning  to  St.  Thomas  to  rid  herself 
of  prisoners,  the  Siren  remained  in  that  port 
several  days.  The  Americans  improved  this  op 
portunity  to  make  purchases,  receiving  all  kinds 
of  fruit,  birds  and  gold  dust  for  articles  of  cloth 
ing,  knives,  tobacco  etc.  For  an  old  vest  our 
hero  bought  a  basket  of  oranges  and  for  a  hand- 


TAMING  A  PETTY  OFFICER.  151 

ful  of  tobacco  five  large  cocoanuts.  This  was  a 
most  valuable  transaction  for  the  lad  inasmuch  as, 
though  he  drew  his  daily  allowance  of  tobacco,  he 
had  not  acquired  the  habit  of  using  it.  The  milk 
of  the  cocoanuts  was  highly  appreciated  when  the 
Siren  again  ran  short  of  water. 

It  was  while  the  Siren  was  in  St.  Thomas,  that 
Samuel  had  the  first  and  only  real  occasion  to 
complain  of  the  tyranny  of  the  petty  officers  in 
the  American  navy — and  the  style  in  which  it  was 
handled  by  Captain  Nicholson  is  sufficient  com 
mentary  of  the  humanity  of  our  service  in  those 
days. 

The  petty  officers  messed  by  themselves  and 
had  a  large,  awkward  boy,  entirely  unaccustomed 
to  sea  life,  to  wait  on  them.  This  led  to  some 
of  the  officers  imposing  upon  him,  even  to  the 
extent  of  knocking  him  around  and  using  a  rope's 
end  on  his  back.  For  some  reason  Leech  was 
ordered  to  take  this  boy's  place  and  he,  from  the 
start,  determined  to  resent  this  treatment. 

One  day  the  gunner  came  below  for  his  share 
of  whiskey  and  found  it  gone,  his  messmates  hav 
ing  drank  it  all.  He  turned  upon  Samuel  and 
asked  for  the  whiskey.  The  lad  boldly  answered : 

"  I  know  nothing  about  it,"  upon  which  the 
gunner  broke  into  a  violent  rage  using  the  most 
improper  language. 


152  SIREN'S  LIVELY  CRUISE, 

Leech  at  once  went  on  deck  and  reported  the 
matter  to  Captain  Nicholson.  The  gunner  was 
summoned  and  was  warned  that  if  he  ever  re 
peated  the  offense  he  would  be  punished.  Leech 
had  no  further  difficulty  on  that  score. 

Soon  after  this  our  hero  had  the  satisfaction  of 
playing  a  practical  joke  on  this  same  gunner. 
Putting  to  sea  the  Siren,  as  usual,  ran  short  of 
water  (on  account  of  the  supply  becoming  foul)  ; 
but  the  gunner,  being  "  an  old  bird,"  had  provided 
against  such  a  contingency  by  having  a  keg  of  it 
securely  locked  in  a  room  for  his  private  use. 

One  hot  night,  when  the  throats  of  all  were 
parched  with  thirst,  Samuel  met  the  boatswain's 
mate  and  said: 

"  If  I  were  minded  to  play  the  rogue  I  could 
hook  some  water." 

"  Where  ?  "  eagerly  asked  the  mate,  who  was 
almost  dying  with  thirst. 

"  I  have  a  key  that  will  fit  the  lock  of  the  room 
where  the  gunner  keeps  his  water  keg." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  give  me  the  key  and  I  will 
be  the  rogue  while  you  keep  watch  for  the  old 
sinner." 

After  drinking  all  they  wanted  of  the  delicious 
liquid,  they  locked  the  door  and  returned  to  their 
posts.  The  following  day  the  gunner  began 
throwing  out  hints,  broadcast,  about  "  sneak " 


PLAYING  THE  ROGUE.  153 

thieving,  what  an  unpardonable  crime  it  was 
aboard  a  war  ship  and  how  he  would  just  like  to 
catch  anyone  doing  such  a  thing  aboard  the  Siren. 
Of  course,  no  one  had  the  slightest  idea  what  he 
was  raving  about  (excepting  Samuel  and  the 
mate),  the  rest  of  the  crew  innocently  supposing 
the  want  of  water  was  driving  the  poor  man  out 
of  his  senses. 

When  Samuel  and  the  mate  next  attempted  to 
visit  the  keg,  they  found  a  new  and  stronger  lock 
on  the  door. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
PRISONERS  OF  WAR. 

Leaving  St.  Thomas,  the  Siren  proceeded  to 
Angola  where  she  remained  long  enough  to  un 
dergo  a  thorough  overhauling  and,  after  being 
cleaned  and  painted,  she  sailed  for  Boston — 
hoping  to  pick  up  a  prize  or  two  on  the  run 
across  the  Atlantic.  So  afraid  was  our  hero  of 
being  retaken  by  the  British  that  while  at  this 
place,  he  seriously  considered  the  plan  of  desert 
ing  and  finding  refuge  among  the  Africans. 
Better  judgment  prevailed,  however,  and  he 
sailed  with  his  ship. 

Still,  he  employed  every  device  to  prevent 
recognition  in  case  of  capture.  He  allowed  his 
hair  to  grow  long  but  instead  of  tying  it  in  a 
queue  behind  (a  fashion  then  commonly  affected 
by  seamen)  he  trained  it  so  it  fell  in  ringlets 
about  his  face.  This,  together  with  several 
years  growth,  he  hoped  would  prevent  any  of 
his  former  associates  from  recognizing  him 
should  he  ever  be  paraded  before  them.  He  also 
adopted  the  peculiar  dress  affected  by  American 
seamen  which  was  to  open  his  shirt  at  the  neck 


A  SUSPICIOUS  STRANGER.  155 

with  the  corners  thrown  back;  on  these  corners 
being  embroidered  the  stars  of  the  American 
flag,  with  the  British  colors  below. 

Sailing  from  Angola,  the  Siren  reached  the 
island  of  Ascension  in  safety  where  she  stopped 
long  enough  to  examine  the  "  post  office."  This 
was  a  box  nailed  to  a  tree  near  the  shore  where 
passing  ships  left  letters  and  messages  for  other 
vessels  to  receive  or  carry  to  such  different  parts 
of  the  world  as  the  directions  called  for. 

Scarcely  had  the  brig  left  this  island  when  on 
July  12,  1814,  the  cry:  "Sail  ho!"  arrested  the 
attention  of  all  on  board.  In  a  short  time  a 
large  ship,  which  was  taken  for  a  merchantman, 
rose  above  the  horizon  but  Captain  Nicholson 
exercised  great  caution  in  his  approach.  He  had 
no  relish  for  placing  himself  in  the  dilemma  of 
the  bold  Yankee  privateersman  who  unhesitat 
ingly  ran  under  the  guns  of  a  74-gun  ship,  be 
lieving  that  she  was  an  Indiaman.  He  was  not 
undeceived  until  he  had  called  on  her  to  sur 
render  and  the  supposed  Indiaman  had  run  out  a 
double  row  of  huge  guns. 

"  Oh !  very  well,  then,"  smartly  said  the  pri 
vateersman,  "  if  you  won't  haul  down  your  colors, 
I  will." 

It  was  to  avoid  such  a  mistake  as  this  that 
Captain  Nicholson  approached  the  stranger  with 
ii 


156  PRISONERS  OF  WAR. 

caution.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  she  was 
under  all  sail  making  for  the  brig  and,  shortly 
afterward,  it  was  seen  that  she  was  a  74-gun  ship 
under  English  colors ;  upon  which  the  Siren  was 
promptly  put  about  under  all  canvas  to  escape. 
Unfortunately  the  enemy  had  a  wind  most  fav 
orable  for  her  and,  as  it  was  too  evident  that  she 
was  rapidly  gaining,  the  Americans  began  to 
throw  overboard  their  anchors,  cables,  hatches 
and,  finally,  their  guns  and  ammunition  in  order 
to  increase  their  speed.  But  the  freshening 
breeze  gave  the  huge  seventy-four  too  much  ad 
vantage  and  she  was  soon  outcarrying  the  little 
brig  and  came  lumbering  down  on  her  like  an 
elephant  after  a  spaniel. 

Observing  that  his  pursuer  was  almost  within 
gunshot,  Captain  Nicholson  ordered  Quarter 
master  George  Watson  to  throw  the  private  sig 
nals  overboard.  "  This/'  said  Samuel,  "  was  a 
hard  task  for  the  noble-hearted  fellow.  As  he 
pitched  them  into  the  sea  he  said :  '  Goodby, 
brother  Yankee ' ;  an  expression  which,  in  spite 
of  the  mortifying  situation,  forced  a  smile  from 
the  officers." 

The  report  of  a  heavy  gun  now  came  booming 
through  the  air  as  a  signal  for  the  brig  to  heave- 
to  or  look  out  for  the  consequences.  It  was  well 
that  the  Siren  obeyed  as  promptly  as  she  did  for 


MEDWAY  CHASING  THE  SIREN. 


CAPTURED.  157 

they  afterward  learned  that  a  division  of  the 
seventy-four's  gun  crews  had  strict  orders  to  sink 
her  if  she  made  the  least  show  of  resistance. 
Heaving-to,  Captain  Nicholson  caused  the  colors 
to  be  struck  and  waited  while  the  enemy  "  came 
rolling  down  on  us  like  a  huge  avalanche  rushing 
down  the  mountain  side  to  crush  some  poor 
peasant's  dwelling." 

Surrounded  by  his  officers  on  the  quarter  deck, 
the  British  commander  hailed : 

"What  brig  is  that?" 

"  The  United  States  brig  Siren"  replied  Cap 
tain  Nicholson. 

"  This  is  His  Britannic  Majesty's  ship  Med- 
way,"  he  answered.  "  I  claim  you  as  my  lawful 
prize." 

Boats  were  now  lowered  and  in  a  short  time 
the  Americans  were  transferred  to  the  seventy- 
four;  the  officers  being  comfortably  quartered 
with  the  British  officers  but  the  sailors  were 
stowed  away  in  the  poky  cable  tier  where  they 
were  formed  in  messes  of  twelve,  each  mess  hav 
ing  an  allowance  for  only  eight  men.  This  harsh 
treatment,  in  a  short  time,  caused  considerable 
suffering  from  hunger. 

To  Samuel,  however,  this  was  a  small  matter 
compared  with  his  anxiety  about  the  discovery  of 


158  PRISONERS  OF  WAR. 

his  real  character.  When  first  going  aboard  the 
seventy-four  "  the  sight  of  the  marines,"  he  said, 
"  made  me  tremble  for  my  fancy  pointed  out 
several  of  them  as  having  formerly  belonged  to 
the  Macedonian.  I  really  feared  I  was  destined 
to  speedily  swing  at  the  yard-arm." 

On  the  day  after  the  capture,  all  the  prisoners 
were  marched  to  the  quarter  deck  of  the  Medway 
with  their  clothes  bags  to  undergo  a  strict  search  ; 
for  the  English  knew  that  the  Siren  had  just 
come  from  the  African  coast  and  it  was  believed 
that  many  of  her  crew  had  gold  dust  with  them. 
A  most  thorough  examination  was  made,  the  men 
being  required  to  remove  their  outer  garments 
so  as  to  facilitate  the  search.  What  little  gold  the 
Americans  had,  was  taken  from  them  without 
ceremony  and  appropriated  by  the  officers  of  the 
ship. 

Arriving  at  Simon's  Bay,  the  prisoners  were 
landed  and  were  compelled  to  make  the  remainder 
of  their  journey  to  Cape  Town,  twenty-one  miles 
distant,  on  foot.  Leech  recorded :  "  We  were 
received  at  the  beach  by  a  file  of  Irish  soldiers. 
Under  their  escort  we  proceeded  seven  miles, 
through  heaps  of  burning  sand,  seeing  nothing 
worthy  of  interest  but  a  number  of  men  engaged 
in  cutting  up  dead  whales  on  the  seashore. 


AN  EXHAUSTING.  MARCH.  159 

"  After  resting  a  short  time,  we  recommenced 
our  march,  guarded  by  a  new  detachment  of  sol 
diers.  Unused  to  walking,  as  we  were,  we  began 
to  grow  excessively  fatigued  and,  after  wading 
a  stream  of  considerable  depth,  we  were  so 
overcome  that  it  seemed  impossible  .to  proceed 
any  further.  We  dropped  down  on  the  sand,  dis 
couraged  and  wretched.  The  guard  brought  us 
some  bread  and  gave  half  a  pint  of  wine  to  each 
man.  This  revived  us  somewhat. 

"  We  were  now  placed  under  the  guard  of 
dragoons.  They  were  very  kind  and  urged  us  to 
attempt  the  remaining  seven  miles.  To  relieve 
us,  they  carried  our  clothes  bags  on  their  horses 
and,  overtaking  some  Dutch  farmers  going  to 
the  Cape  with  broom-stuff  and  brush,  the  officer 
of  the  dragoons  made  them  carry  the  most  weary 
among  us  in  their  wagons.  It  is  not  common  for 
men  to  desire  the  inside  of  a  prison  but  we 
heartily  wished  ourselves  there.  At  last,  about 
nine  o'clock  that  night,  we  reached  Cape  Town, 
having  left  one  of  our  number  at  Wineburg 
through  exhaustion,  who  rejoined  us  the  next 
day.  Stiff,  sore  and  weary  we  threw  ourselves 
on  the  hard  boards  of  our  prison  where  we  slept 
soundly  until  late  the  next  morning." 

When   Samuel   awoke   the   following 


160  PRISONERS  OF  WAR. 

found  himself  in  a  prison  that  had  recently  been 
occupied  by  several  hundred  American  and 
French  sailors.  It  consisted  of  a  large  yard, 
surrounded  by  high  walls,  strongly  guarded  by 
soldiers.  Within  this  inclosure  was  a  shed  di 
vided  into  three  rooms ;  none  of  which  had  a 
floor,  saving  that  afforded  by  Mother  Earth. 
Around  the  sides  of  the  shed  were  three  rows  of 
benches,  one  above  the  other  and,  by  spreading 
their  clothing  on  them,  tolerably  comfortable 
bunks  for  sleeping  were  formed.  A  few  of  the 
Siren's  men,  however,  preferred  to  swing  their 
hammocks;  so  accustomed  had  they  become  to 
that  snug  style  of  resting. 

Most  of  the  petty  officers  and  soldiers  were 
very  kind  to  the  Americans  but,  at  first,  several 
of  them  showed  a  disposition  to  be  tyrannical. 
They  were  quickly  cured  of  this  by  an  ingenious 
Yankee  device.  Whenever  one  of  these  surly 
petty  officers  was  on  duty,  the  Americans  bothered 
him  by  hiding  so  as  to  delay  him  in  the  morning 
and  evening  "  round-up  "  of  the  prisoners.  This 
protracted  his  time  of  duty  when  he  was  most 
anxious  to  be  relieved. 

Of  course,  the  relief  would  not  permit  the 
former  guard  to  go,  until  every  prisoner  had  been 
accounted  for.  When  several  were  missing, 


THAT  DUTCHMAN  BADIEM.  161 

others  were  sent  to  find  them  and  they,  in  turn, 
would  hide  and,  so  did  the  third  batch  of  mes 
sengers.  This  vexatious  delay  sometimes  kept 
the  obnoxious  tyrant  an  hour  longer  on  duty.  As 
these  provoking  delays  occurred  only  when  .the 
objectionable  officer  was  concerned,  he  soon  came 
to  understand  it — and  mended  his  ways  accord 
ingly. 

Having  triumphed  over  this  annoyance,  the 
Sirens  next  turned  their  attention  to  an  old 
Dutchman  named  Badiem,  who  had  the  contract 
for  supplying  provisions  for  the  prisoners.  He 
had  already  found  .that  it  was  dangerous  to  at 
tempt  cheating  Yankees  by  supplying  cheaper 
and  poorer  bread  and  so  he  was  now  more  cau 
tious. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  Sirens  found  that  a 
very  inferior  quality  of  bread  was  being  furnished 
and,  taking  counsel  among  themselves,  they  de 
cided  to  "  fix  "  Badiem.  According  to  British 
prison  regulations,  a  superior  officer  was  required 
.to  visit  the  prisoners  every  day  and  see  to  it  that 
they  were  properly  treated.  This  officer  hap 
pened  to  be  a  kind  old  gentleman  who  had  seen 
service  in  our  war  for  independence  and  had 
been  in  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill — consequently 
he  entertained  the  highest  respect  for  Yankees. 


1 62  PRISONERS  OF  WAR. 

"  He  had  the  profoundest  respect  for  American 
character/'  said  Leech,  "  and  could  not  speak  of 
the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  without  tears." 

One  day  a  friendly  sergeant  being  on  duty,  the 
prisoners  gave  him  a  piece  of  the  Dutchman's 
bread,  complaining  that  it  was  not  fit  to  eat.  At 
the  usual  time  the  gallant  old  general,  mounted 
on  a  fine,  dashing  charger,  came  round  and  asked 
the  usual  question: 

"  Everything  all  right  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,"  replied  the  sergeant. 

"  What  is  the  matter?  "  asked  the  veteran. 

"  The  prisoners  complain  of  their  bread,  sir." 

"  Let  me  see  it,"  commanded  the  general. 

The  sergeant  gave  him  the  piece.  The  general 
wrapped  it  carefully  in  a  piece  of  paper,  clapped 
spurs  to  his  horse  and  galloped  off.  On  the  fol 
lowing  day  .the  prisoners  had  better  bread  than 
ever  before  and  an  order  came  for  a  man  from 
each  of  the  three  rooms  to  go  with  the  sentry 
every  morning  to  Cape  Town  to  examine  their 
daily  provisions — and  if  it  proved  not  what  it 
ought  to  be,  to  reject  it  at  old  Badiem's  expense. 

This  upheaval  of  the  Dutchman's  dreams  of  ill- 
gotten  profit,  put  him  into  the  wildest  rage  but, 
so  long  as  the  Sirens  were  in  that  prison  he  never 
dared  to  again  foist  poor  fare  on  them.  Old 


XMAS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA.  163 

Badiem  declared  that  he  would  rather  feed  one 
thousand  Frenchmen  than  one  hundred  Yankees. 

Leech  records :  "  We  now  had  an  abundance 
of  beef  and  mutton  and  a  full  allowance  of  bread. 
The  mutton  was  excellent.  Besides  our  prison 
allowance,  we  had  an  opportunity  to  purchase  as 
many  little  luxuries  as  our  slender  finances  would 
permit.  These  were  furnished  by  a  slave  who 
was  the  property  of  the  old  Dutchman  and  who 
was  so  far  a  favorite  as  to  be  indulged  in  two 
wives  and  the  privilege  of  selling  small  articles 
to  the  inmates  of  the  prison." 

For  reasonable  charges  this  sable  polygamist 
provided  coffee,  tea,  fish,  sausages  and  fruit  so 
that  on  Christmas  Day  the  Sirens  had  some 
semblance  of  a  jollification.  In  order  to  procure 
money  for  these  luxuries,  the  prisoners  were  per 
mitted  to  braid  hats,  make  toy  boats  and  such 
fancy  articles  as  would  sell  in  the  town. 

One  day,  Samuel  became  quite  ill  in  the  prison 
and  his  shipmates  advised  him  to  go  to  the  hos 
pital  in  Cape  Town.  It  seems  that  he  had  been 
taken  in  a  similar  way  when  aboard  the  Siren 
and  the  surgeon  had  prescribed  an  ounce  of  salts 
that  caused  him  the  most  horrible  nausea.  So, 
when  the  hospital  was  now  suggested,  Samuel 
at  once  associated  it  with  those  dreaded  salts. 


164  PRISONERS  OF  WAR. 

"  I  would  go  to  the  hospital,"  he  said,  "  if  I 
thought  they  would  not  give  me  salts." 

His  shipmates  assured  him  that  he  would  not 
receive  such  a  remedy  so,  under  the  guard  of  a 
sentry,  he  sallied  forth  from  the  prison  to  the 
hospital. 

"Well,  my  boy,"  cheerily  asked  the  Doctor, 
"  What  is  the  matter  with  you  ?  " 

With  many  wry  faces  Samuel  explained  his 
symptoms,  whereupon,  the  docter  promptly 
turned  to  his  assistant  and  said  : 

"  Doctor  Jack,  six  ounces  of  salts  for  this 
boy ! " 

Poor  Samuel  felt  like  jumping  out  of  the  win 
dow  and  he  would  have  done  so  had  he  not 
known  that  a  bullet  would  have  overtaken  him. 
An  ounce  of  salts  in  the  Siren  had  caused  him 
excruciating  agony — and  now  he  was  compelled 
to  swallow  six! 

But  there  was  no  way  of  evading  the  dose.  He 
took  it  and,  much  to  his  relief  and  surprise,  found 
that  they  were  an  entirely  different  and  much 
milder  dose  from  that  he  had  taken  aboard  the 
brig;  the  former  being  Epsom  and  the  latter 
Glauber's  salts. 

So  pleased  was  our  hero  with  his  trip  to  Cape 
Town  and  the  opportunity  to  stroll  about  the 


FEIGNING  ILLNESS  CURED.  165 

streets  that,  soon  afterward,  he  feigned  illness. 
He  repeated  this  once  too  often,  however.  The 
Doctor  seeing  through  the  trick,  gave  him  a  dose 
of  medicine  which  cured  Samuel  of  any  further 
desire  to  visit  the  hospital. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
UNDER  THE  HALTER'S  SHADOW. 

There  was  a  small  prison  at  Cape  Town  called 
The  Trunk,  so  dubbed  on  account  of  its  scanty 
dimensions.  To  this  place  all  the  prisoners, 
where  the  Siren's  crew  was  confined,  were  trans 
ferred  when  they  became  too  refractory.  Here 
they  were  kept  on  bread  and  water  for  such  time 
as  their  "  judge  "  deemed  necessary.  And  it  must 
be  said  that  the  Americans  never  complained 
when  any  of  their  number  was  thus  punished — 
provided  he  was  guilty. 

One  day,  however,  two  of  the  Siren's  crew 
were  threatened  with  banishment  to  The  Trunk 
most  unjustly.  It  seems  that  two  of  the  pris 
oners  had  washed  their  clothes  and  unwittingly 
had  hung  them  over  a  line  directly  in  front  of  the 
path  leading  to  the  prison  doctor's  office.  Ob 
serving  the  clothing  and  being  too  proud  to  bend 
his  head  or  go  around  the  wet  clothing,  the  doc 
tor  took  out  his  knife  and  cut  the  line  so  the 
clothes  fell  in  the  dirt  and  were  soiled. 

The  owners  of  the  "  insulted  shirts  and  trous 
ers  "  angrily  inquired  who  had  cut  the  line  and 


MUTINY  !  167 

were  told  that  it  was  the  English  doctor.  This 
brought  forth  a  volley  of  sailor  profanity  that 
was  not  at  all  complimentary  to  the  doctor  who, 
overhearing  it,  ordered  the  two  men  to  The 
Trunk. 

The  Sirens  determined  to  resist  and  when  the 
sergeant  came  to  seize  the  men,  all  the  Americans 
turned  out  in  a  body  declaring  that  they  would  all 
go  to  The  Trunk  together.  As  the  prisoners 
were  in  a  state  of  mutiny,  the  guard  was  called 
out  and  ordered  to  load  and  fire.  Upon  this,  the 
Americans  shouted : 

"  Fire  away  I  You  will  have  but  one  fire  and 
then  it  will  be  our  turn  !  " 

By  this  time  all  the  broken  bottles,  stones  and 
sticks  in  the  yard  had  been  picked  up  and  the 
prisoners  stood  ready  to  open  the  battle. 

Realizing  that  he  would  be  overpowered,  the 
sergeant  recalled  his  men  and  the  Sirens  never 
heard  any  more  about  it — at  least  not  from  the 
enemy's  side. 

Such  experiences  afforded  a  welcome  relief  to 
the  dreary  monotony  of  prison  life  at  Cape  Town 
for  the  Siren's  people  had  now  been  in  "  durance 
vile "  seven  months.  Further  excitement  was 
caused  soon  after  the  "  mutiny  "  by  a  midnight 
alarm. 

One  night,  when  all  in  the  prison  save  the 


i68        UNDER  THE  HALTER'S  SHADOW. 

guard  were  asleep,  all  hands  were  awakened  by 
the  approach  of  a  large  party  of  shouting  and 
singing  men  and  women,  preceded  by  a  band  of 
music.  The  prisoners  turned  out  in  a  jiffy — 
hoping  that  they  were  about  to  be  liberated  by  a 
daring  raid  from  some  American  war  ship.  They 
rushed,  in  a  body,  to  the  prison  gate;  ready  to 
perform  their  part  in  the  rescue — if  rescue  it  was. 

Much  to  their  chagrin — and  afterward  to  their 
no  small  amusement — they  learned  that  the  cause 
of  the  commotion  was  a  Dutch  wedding  party 
going  to  the  house  of  old  Badiem,  the  prison 
caterer,  who  lived  nearby.  The  band  of  music, 
very  inappropriately,  was  playing  that  familiar 
tune  "  A  Free  and  Accepted  Mason." 

When  the  news  of  the  capture  and  burning  of 
Washington  reached  this  dreary  prison,  the  Si 
rens  decided  to  make  a  break  for  liberty.  A 
carefully  laid  plan  to  rise  at  night,  overpower  the 
guards  and  proceeding  to  Simon's  Bay,  cut  out 
some  ship  and  sail  to  America,  was  agreed  to. 
But  through  treachery  it  reached  the  ears  of  the 
garrison,  with  the  result  that  the  guard  was 
doubled  while  the  arrival  of  a  company  of  dra 
goons  rendered  the  project  impossible  of  exe 
cution. 

Shortly  after  this  an  English  missionary,  the 
Rev.  George  Thorn,  asked  permission  of  the 


A  KIND  MINISTRATION.  169 

prisoners  to  preach  to  them  on  Sundays.  Some 
of  the  sailors  objected  on  the  ground  that  he 
would  laud  the  king  but  the  prevailing  sentiment 
was  "  Let  him  come  and  show  him  that  Ameri 
cans  know  what  good  behavior  is."  They  re 
called  the  experiences  of  the  eccentric  Rowland 
Hill,  who,  when  attacked  on  a  preaching  tour, 
was  saved  by  a  few  sailors  rallying  about  him 
and  dispersing  the  mob. 

Cleaning  up  one  of  the  rooms  and  arranging 
benches,  they  welcomed  Mr.  Thorn  and  his  ami 
able  wife  on  the  following  Sabbath :  Instead  of 
preaching  about  kings  and  princes,  as  some  of  the 
Americans  feared,  he  gave  them  an  earnest,  simple 
discourse  which  so  pleased  the  men  that  they 
invited  him  to  come  every  Sunday.  As  some  of 
the  hardy  seamen  expressed  it :  "  He  shot  away 
my  colors,"  "  He  gave  me  a  broadside  "  etc. 

During  the  week  Mr.  Thorn  would  visit  the 
prisoners,  distributing  healthful  literature  for 
them  to  read.  The  result  of  this  little  thoughtful- 
ness  was  most  touching  on  these  mariners.  So 
little  accustomed  were  they  to  any  consideration 
or  attention,  they  were  readily  led  by  the  kindly 
ministrations  of  this  good  man  and  his  wife. 
Gambling,  profanity  and  other  vices  became  un 
popular  and  were  finally  discarded  altogether. 

As  some  expression  of  their  appreciation,  the 


170        UNDER  THE  HALTER'S  SHADOW. 

Sirens  presented  Mr.  Thorn  many  gifts  worked 
in  a  rough  way  by  their  hands — doubly  precious 
to  the  good  man  on  that  account.  One  was  the 
model  of  a  full  rigged  ship,  another  was  a  hat 
made  from  bullocks'  horns — the  horn  being 
pealed  into  narrow  strips  and  woven  together  in 
shape  for  head  gear. 

About  the  middle  of  March,  1814,  the  74-gun 
ship  of  the  line  Cumberland  arrived  at  Cape 
Town  to  transfer  the  prisoners  to  England,  pre 
paratory  to  their  voyage  to  the  United  States. 
While  this  was  joyful  news  to  most  of  the 
Siren's  people,  it  was  full  of  seriousness  for  our 
hero. 

"  The  tidings  filled  me  with  fear,"  recorded 
Samuel.  "  Directly  to  America  I  would  gladly 
have  gone  but  to  be  carried  to  England,  in  one 
of  her  ships  of  war,  was  like  going  to  certain 
death.  How  was  it  possible  for  me  to  escape 
detection?  How  could  I  avoid  meeting  some  of 
the  old  Macedonians  who  would,  of  course, 
recognize  and  betray  me  ? 

"  These  questions  tortured  me  beyond  endur 
ance  and  almost  induced  me  to  volunteer  to  re 
main  at  the  Cape.  I  felt  like  an  escaped  criminal, 
with  the  officers  of  justice  at  his  heels.  Death  at 
the  yard-arm  haunted  me  day  and  night.  No  one 
can  imagine  my  uneasiness  unless  he  has  been 
similarly  placed." 


IN  DREAD  OF  DETECTION.  171 

After  the  usual  delays,  the  Sirens  were  stowed 
aboard  the  Cumberland  in  far  more  comfortable 
quarters  than  they  had  had  in  the  Medway  for, 
instead  of  the  stuffy  cable  tier,  they  had  roomy 
bunks  on  the  upper  gun-deck ;  besides  which  they 
had  plenty  of  good  food. 

Arriving  at  St.  Helena,  part  of  the  prisoners 
were  transferred  to  their  captor,  the  Medway, 
and  the  rest  to  the  5<D-gun  frigate  Grampus; 
young  Leech  being  sent  to  the  latter.  "  This 
transfer  to  the  Grampus  greatly  alarmed  me," 
said  Samuel,  "  since  the  more  men  I  saw  the 
greater  was  the  chance  of  detection.  I  had 
already  escaped  being  known  on  board  of  two 
seventy-fours  with  their  half  thousand  men  each 
but  I  could  not  promise  myself  the  same  im 
munity  much  longer.  However,  as  I  saw  no  face 
that  was  familiar  when  I  went  on  board,  I  felt  a 
little  more  at  ease." 

That  night,  however,  proved  to  be  one  long 
remembered  by  our  hero  as  one  in  which  he  grew 
several  years  older  in  as  many  minutes.  About 
nine  o'clock,  when  every  thing  in  the  great  frig 
ate  had  settled  down  to  the  orderly  quiet  of  the 
hour,  a  call  from  the  officer  of  the  deck  was 
passed  along  the  main  deck  which,  in  the  stillness 
of  the  night,  sounded  as  if  it  had  come  from  a 
speaking  trumpet.  It  was  : 

12 


172        UNDER  THE  HALTER'S  SHADOW. 

"  Eass  the  word  for  the  boy  Leech !  " 

For  a  moment  Samuel's  heart  stopped  beating 
and  then  began  thumping  like  a  trip  hammer  as, 
in  agonizing  fear,  he  awaited  the  outcome  of 
this  summons  for  "  the  boy  Leech  " — which  was 
always  the  way  he  had  been  summoned  when 
aboard  the  Macedonian. 

"  Pass  the  word  for  the  boy  Leech !  "  was  re 
peated  by  several  gruff  boatswain's  mates  and,  as 
each  order  came  nearer  to  the  place  where  our 
hero  was  waiting,  there  seemed  to  be  no  doubt 
but  that  it  was  intended  for  him.  Indeed,  several 
of  the  American  prisoners  said  to  him : 

"  That  means  you." 

Samuel  was  so  terrified  that  he  could  make  no 
motion,  nor  could  he  control  his  voice  so  as  to 
answer.  Perhaps  it  was  fortunate  for  him  that 
he  remained  silent  for,  a  moment  later,  he  heard 
some  one  say: 

"  Your  master  wants  you." 

This  convinced  Samuel  that  there  was  a  "  Boy 
Leech  "  in  the  frigate's  crew  as  well  as  among 
the  prisoners  and  so  it  proved — though  our 
friend  declared  that  he  did  not  breathe  freely 
again  for  a  week  afterward  and  that  at  night  he 
suffered  from  the  most  hideous  nightmares. 

When  at  St.  Helena  it  was  learned  that  war 
with  France  was  ended.  This  was  gratifying 


PEACE  OR  WAR?  173 

news  to  the  sailors  as  they  were  all  hoping  to  get 
discharged.  On  the  run  from  this  island  to  Eng 
land,  however,  it  was  learned  from  a  passing 
ship  that  Napoleon  had  escaped  from  Elba  and 
was  at  Paris  with  sixty  thousand  men  so  that  the 
war  was  on  again.  "  Nothing,"  said  Samuel, 
"  could  exceed  the  joy  of  the  officers  at  this  an 
nouncement  and  the  corresponding  vexation  of 
the  crew.  The  former  dreaded  peace  because  it 
meant  half  pay,  no  prize  money,  and  little  chance 
of  promotion." 

At  last  the  white  cliffs  of  Old  England  rose 
above  the  horizon.  To  avoid  suspicion  our  hero 
pretended  to  be  very  much  interested  in  every 
thing  about  the  "  new  "  land,  asking  such  ques 
tions  as  any  foreigner  might.  "  I  could  not  be 
hold  myself  approaching  my  native  land," 
records  Samuel,  "  without  many  misgivings.  To 
a  man  who  knows  a  halter  is  hanging  over  his 
head,  everything  furnished  cause  for  alarm ;  a 
piercing  look,  a  whisper  or  the  sudden  mention 
of  my  name  caused  me  to  tremble." 

One  day,  before  they  made  port,  Captain  Nich 
olson  inadvertently  came  near  disclosing  Leech's 
secret  before  the  officers  of  the  Grampus.  It 
seems  some  discussion  had  been  going  on  be 
tween  the  American  and  British  officers  when 
Nicholson  sent  for  Samuel  to  clear  up  a  point 


174        UNDER  THE  HALTER'S  SHADOW. 

involving  Salem  ;  from  which  place,  the  American 
officer  all  along  had  supposed  the  boy  really  came. 

Appearing  before  the  officers  in  fear  and  tremb 
ling  he  was  asked  a  question  about  Mr.  Crownin- 
shield  of  Salem.  Fortunately,  Leech  knew  of  him 
and  answered  satisfactorily.  It  was  with  im 
measurable  relief  that  he  found  no  other  questions 
were  to  be  asked  for  every  moment  Samuel 
feared  that  he  would  get  into  the  same  trouble 
he  had  relative  to  his  "  native  city  of  Philama- 
delph." 

Nor  was  this  an  idle  fear  that  Leech  had, 
about  being  betrayed  unintentionally  by  his 
friends.  A  case  occurred  only  a  short  time  be 
fore,  in  the  very  port  for  which  the  Grampus 
was  making,  where  a  mother  innocently  revealed 
the  identity  of  her  son.  Not  knowing  that  he 
was  a  deserter  from  the  royal  navy,  she  went 
aboard  a  newly  arrived  English  man-of-war  and 
asked  for  him,  giving  his  name  and  rating.  They 
replied  that  no  one  of  that  name  was  aboard. 

"  He  is  among  the  Yankees,"  unthinkingly  re 
marked  the  good  mother. 

There  happened  to  be  some  American  prison 
ers  and,  hearing  the  remark,  an  officer  summoned 
up  the  prisoners  and  paraded  them  on  the  gun 
deck.  Seeing  her  son  among  the  number  the 
poor  woman  exclaimed: 


AN  UNFORTUNATE  CRY.  175 

"  Oh,  Tom !  I  have  brought  you  a  clean 
shirt !  " 

The  officer,  who  was  standing  by,  then  stepped 
up  to  the  man  and  said : 

"  It's  a  clean  shirt  you  want,  is  it  ?  I'll  give 
you  a  clean  handkerchief " — meaning  that  he 
would  be  hung.  The  unfortunate  lad  was  at 
once  placed  in  irons,  in  the  presence  of  his 
mother.  A  courtmartial  was  held  and  on  the 
following  day  he  was  hung  at  the  yard-arm.  It 
was  fortunate  for  our  hero  that  Captain  Nichol 
son  did  not  question  him  too  closely  about  Salem 
in  the  presence  of  the  British  officers. 

Arriving  at  Spithead  the  Americans  were  trans 
ferred  to  the  prison-ship  Puissant,  a  war  vessel 
which  had  been  captured  from  the  French. 
"  Here  we  were  treated  with  great  leniency," 
records  Samuel.  "  We  were  even  allowed  liberty 
to  go  ashore.  Had  I  dared,  I  would  have  run 
away — but  the  dread  of  a  halter  restrained  me. 
I  did  not  even  venture  to  write  to  my  mother, 
lest  she  should  be  tempted  to  visit  me,  or  even 
write,  as  a  letter  from  any  place  in  England 
might  awaken  suspicions  as  to  my  true  character 
and  she  might  share  the  grief  of  the  too-fond 
mother  who  innocently  sent  her  son  to  the  gal 
lows/' 

After  a  stay  of  several  weeks  in  the  Puissant, 


176        UNDER  THE  HALTER'S  SHADOW. 

the  Sirens  were  transferred  to  the  gun-brig  Rover 
which  was  to  transfer  the  prisoners  to  Plymouth, 
England. 

It  seemed  a  part  of  the  Admiralty's  policy  to 
transfer  American  prisoners  from  one  British 
war  ship  to  another  as  many  times  as  possible — 
evidently  with  the  object  of  increasing  the  chances 
of  detecting  deserters.  So  far,  our  hero  had 
passed  under  the  surveillance  of  the  English  in 
the  Medway,  in  the  prison  at  Cape  Town  and 
of  the  people  in  the  Cumberland,  Grampus,  Puis 
sant  and  Rover — numbering  in  all,  several  thou 
sand  British  officers  and  sailors ;  certainly  an 
ordeal  which  nothing  but  Providence  enabled 
him  to  pass  through  without  detection. 

But  a  still  severer  ordeal  was  awaiting  him. 
In  his  diary  Leech  records  in  reference  to  his 
induction  on  the  Rover:  "  Here  was  a  double 
risk  again  before  me.  I  had  a  risk  of  being 
known  by  the  crew  of  the  Rover  and  by  the  many 
people  who  had  known  me  at  Plymouth  during 
my  previous  stay  at  that  port.  However,  the 
good  hand  of  Providence  was  with  me  to  pre 
serve  me.  We  reached  our  port  in  safety  where, 
to  our  great  delight,  we  heard  that  the  Woodrop 
Simms,  Captain  Jones,  of  Philadelphia,  was  to  be 
the  cartel  to  convey  us  to  America." 

Before  the  Americans  were  permitted  to  tread 


INCREASING  PERILS.  177 

her  decks,  however,  the  prisoners  (again  follow 
ing  the  policy  of  the  Admiralty  for  detecting 
deserters)  were  sent  aboard  the  Royal  Sovereign 
where  they  would  be  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  eight 
hundred  men — a  large  bounty  being  offered  to 
the  man  who  would  reveal  the  identity  of  British 
deserters.  Unfortunately  for  Samuel,  this  Royal 
Sovereign,  on  a  previous  occasion,  had  sailed 
in  company  with  the  Macedonian  and  Leech  was 
known  to  many  of  her  people. 

To  avoid  recognition  our  hero  resorted  to  a 
stratagem.  He  says :  "  Whenever  any  of  her 
men  came  near  our  quarters,  I  endeavored  to 
look  cross-eyed  or  closed  one  eye  so  as  to  appear 
partially  blind ;  and  in  various  other  ways  altered 
my  appearance  so  that  even  an  old  shipmate 
would  have  been  puzzled  to  recognize  me  at  first." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
HOMEWARD  BOUND. 

At  last  the  grateful  news  that  the  Woodrop 
Simms  was  ready,  reached  the  prisoners  and  in 
August,  1815,  Samuel  went  aboard  her  the  hap 
piest  boy  that  ever  breathed  the  breath  of  life. 
Here  he  met  a  number  of  other  Sirens  who — 
during  their  short  stay  at  Plymouth — had  been 
confined  in  Dartmoor  Prison. 

It  would  be  supposed  that  these  men,  after  such 
a  protracted  incarceration  in  British  prisons, 
would  be  without  money.  At  least,  so  argued 
Samuel.  What  must  have  been  his  surprise,  then, 
when  he  saw  these  same  Dartmoor  prisoners 
purchasing  large  quantities  of  luxuries  for  their 
voyage  across  the  Atlantic — and  they  had  the 
coin  to  pay  for  them,  too. 

Later  on,  Samuel  learned  that  this  was  counter 
feit  money  which  these  prisoners  had  made  dur 
ing  their  involuntary  stay  at  Dartmoor.  How  far 
this  spurious  money  circulated  before  the  authori 
ties  learned  of  it,  Samuel  does  not  state,  neither 
did  he  care  for  on  the  following  day,  the  Wood 
rop  Simms  set  sail  for  America. 


REMOVING  THE  MASK.  179 

It  was  one  morning  when  the  cartel  was  well 
on  her  way  across  the  Atlantic  that  the  sequel  to 
Captain  Nicholson's  near  approach  to  a  betrayal 
of  Leech's  identity  before  British  officers  in  the 
Grampus,  came  about.  Nicholson  again  asked 
Samuel  something  about  Salem.  Our  hero  gave 
a  knowing  laugh.  The  American  commander, 
somewhat  indignant,  asked : 

"Why  this  levity?" 

"  Sir,"  replied  the  youth,  "  Salem  is  not  my 
native  place  by  a  considerable." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  inquired  Nicholson, 
somewhat  mystified  by  Samuel's  manner. 

It  was  then  that  Leech,  for  the  first  time,  told 
Nicholson  how  he  had  been  captured  in  the 
Macedonian,  had  deserted  and  had  shipped  in  an 
American  war  ship  and  had,  all  these  months  been 
under  the  shadow  of  a  halter.  Captain  Nicholson 
warmly  congratulated  the  lad  on  his  many  nar 
row  escapes. 

As  showing  the  fickleness  of  the  old-time  sail 
or's  whims,  the  following  extract  from  Samuel's 
diary  will  be  given :  "  During  the  voyage  a  great 
deal  was  said  about  quitting  the  sea  and  settling 
down  in  quietness  on  shore.  One  of  our  ship 
mates,  named  William  Carpenter  who  belonged 
to  Rhode  Island,  had  a  particular  enthusiasm  for 
farming.  He  promised  to  take  me  with  him 


180  HOMEWARD  BOUND. 

where  I  could  learn  the  art  of  cultivating  the 
soil.  Many  of  us  made  strong  resolutions  to 
embark  in  some  such  enterprise.  The  pleasures 
of  agriculture  were  sung  and  praised  among  us 
in  so  ardent  a  manner  that  he  must  have  been 
incredulous  indeed  who  could  have  doubted  for  a 
moment  the  certainty  of  quite  a  number  of  our 
hands  becoming  farmers  whenever  we  should 
gain  land." 

One  night  as  they  swung  in  their  hammocks, 
talking  with  great  earnestness  about  their  fav 
orite  theme  (farming),  the  wind  blowing  quite 
freshly  on  deck,  one  said : 

"  If  ever  I  get  home,  you  won't  catch  me  on 
board  of  a  ship  again." 

"  Yes,"  said  another,  "  farmers  live  well  at 
any  rate.  They  are  not  put  on  an  allowance  but 
have  enough  to  eat.  If  they  work  hard  at  it  all 
day,  they  can  turn  in  at  night — and  if  it  blows 
hard  the  house  won't  rock  and  there  are  no  sails 
to  reef." 

While  these  and  other  good  resolutions  were 
being  formed,  the  wind  began  blowing  harder 
and  harder.  From  occasional  puffs  it  quickly 
grew  to  a  tremendous  gale.  Realizing  that  they 
were  in  for  a  storm  and  thinking  that  all  hands 
might  be  required,  those  below  went  on  deck  to 
assist.  It  was  now  blowing  a  hurricane,  the 


A  NIGHT  OF  TERROR.  181 

wind  howling  and  whistling  through  the  rigging, 
the  wilder  roar  of  the  angry  sea,  the  shouting  of 
the  officers  and  the  intense  darkness  all  conspired 
to  present  a  scene  of  indescribable  terror. 

Just  as  our  hero  stepped  on  deck,  a  heavy  wave 
broke  over  the  cartel,  drenching  all  hands  and 
threatening  to  carry  her  down.  Shortly  after 
ward  the  crash  of  a  falling  mast  was  heard.  It 
was  a  topmast  going  overboard,  leaving  a  yard 
in  the  slings.  There  were  so  many  men  on  deck 
now  that  they  only  encumbered  each  other's 
movements ;  so  some  went  below  with  the  full 
expectation  that  the  ship  would  founder  before 
morning;  and,  with  true  sailor-like  philosophy, 
they  argued  that  it  would  be  as  well  to  drown  in 
their  hammocks  as  on  deck. 

During  this  night  of  appalling  danger  the  men 
manifested  curiously  varying  symptoms  of  alarm. 
"  Some  prayed  aloud,"  records  Leech.  "  Others 
cursed  as  if  in  bravado  shouting  '  We  are  all 
going  to  perdition  together ! '  For  my  own  part 
I  kept  repeating  the  Lord's  prayer  and  renewing 
those  promises,  so  often  made  in  moments  of 
apparent  destruction." 

At  length  day  broke,  revealing  the  sad  havoc 
made  by  the  storm.  The  shattered  state  of  the 
cartel's  masts  and  rigging  reminded  Samuel  of 


1 82  HOMEWARD  BOUND, 

the  condition  of  the  Macedonian  after  her  action 
with  the  United  States,  excepting  that  there  were 
no  wounded  or  dead  encumbering  ;the  deck. 
Captain  Jones,  who  commanded  the  Woodrop 
Simms,  declared  that,  though  he  had  been  at  sea 
twenty-five  years,  he  had  never  experienced  such 
a  frightful  storm.  He  had  not  left  the  deck  all 
that  night.  Fortunately  for  all  hands,  the  ship 
was  nearly  new,  exceptionally  strong  and  an  ex 
cellent  sea  boat. 

As  the  gale  abated,  repairs  were  made  and  the 
cartel  proceeded  on  her  voyage,  meeting  a  num 
ber  of  vessels  that  had  suffered  even  worse  than 
she,  while  (as  they  afterward  learned)  many 
craft  went  down  with  all  hands  on  board.  That 
gale  was  on  the  9th  and  loth  of  August,  1815, 
and  was  long  remembered  among  sailor  folk  as 
the  worst  in  their  experience. 

When  so  many  resolutions  about  "  turning  into 
farmers  "  had,  apparently,  been  "  clinched  "  by 
this  close  swish  against  the  winding  sheet  of 
Death,  we  would  expect  that  the  men  making 
them  would  exert  all  effort  to  get  into  the  rural 
districts  as  soon  as  possible  after  reaching  port. 
Such,  however,  did  not  prove  to  be  the  case. 

Arriving  in  New  York,  safe  and  sound,  they 
were  paid  off  and,  in  a  twinkling,  the  hardships 


RESOLUTIONS  SOON  FORGOT.  183 

and  perils  of  the  sea  were  forgotten  as  most  of 
the  sailors  plunged  headlong  into  dissipation 
which  was  continued  so  long  as  their  money  held 
out.  As  Samuel  well  expressed  it :  "  We  felt  as 
if  New  York  belonged  to  us  and  that  we  were 
really  the  happiest,  jolliest  fellows  in  the  world." 

It  is  only  in  justice  to  our  hero  to  say,  however, 
that  at  first  he  made  honest  effort  to  find  employ 
ment  on  shore.  He  looked  up  the  bootmaking 
establishment  in  Broadway,  where  he  had  begun 
an  apprenticeship,  and  was  truly  disappointed  on 
learning  that  his  employer  had  moved  to  Phila 
delphia.  After  this  damper  on  his  good  reso 
lutions  our  hero,  we  fear,  did  not  make  other 
serious  attempts  in  this  line.  He  had  a  hundred 
dollars  in  his  pocket  and  was  content  to  float 
about  the  city  until  that  was  gone  when,  like  most 
of  his  companions  in  the  cartel,  he  enlisted  again. 

Samuel  shipped  in  the  United  States  war  brig 
Boxer  which  had  been  captured  by  the  Enter 
prise,  September,  1813.  The  Boxer  was  now 
commanded  by  the  celebrated  David  Porter  who 
was  captain  of  the  Essex  in  her  famous  cruise 
in  the  south  Pacific,  1812-1814.  "  Although  Cap 
tain  Porter  was  stern  and  severe,"  said  Samuel, 
"  he  never  used  bad  language.  He  always  spoke 
with  the  utmost  deliberation  but  with  such  ob- 


184  HOMEWARD  BOUND. 

vious  feeling  that  we  often  trembled  to  hear  his 
voice." 

While  in  the  Boxer,  Samuel  learned  a  new 
"  trick  "  in  maintaining  discipline  which  was  far 
more  effective  and  less  brutal  than  flogging.  As 
it  was  now  in  time  of  peace,  night  watches  were 
prone  to  steal  a  doze  while  on  duty. 

To  check  this  habit,  Captain  Porter  ordered 
that  any  man  caught  sleeping  was  to  be  aroused 
by  a  handspike — not  too  gently  applied.  The 
offender  was  then  obliged  to  take  the  handspike 
and  hold  it  in  his  hand  as  a  badge  of  disgrace 
throughout  the  watch,  unless  he  discovered  an 
other  man  asleep  when  he  was  to  awake  him  in  a 
similar  manner  and  pass  the  handspike  to  him. 
By  this  simple  means,  the  night  watches  were 
sufficiently  "  interested  "  to  keep  awake. 

After  his  service  in  the  Boxer,  Samuel,  now 
fourteen  years  old,  renewed  his  resolutions  about 
seeking  employment  on  shore  and  now,  without 
funds,  he  set  out  in  the  dead  of  winter  and  pain 
fully  made  his  way — ragged,  footsore  and  cold — 
to  New  Haven,  Hartford,  Coventry  and  Mans 
field.  At  the  last  town  he  met  an  old  shipmate 
in  the  Macedonian  who  had  wandered  into  Con 
necticut,  married  and  was  in  fairly  comfortable 
circumstances.  Through  his  influence  Samuel 
found  steady  work  and  attending  a  Methodist 


JOINS  THE  CHURCH.  185 

revival,  he  became  a  staunch  supporter  of  that 
faith  the  remainder  of  his  days. 

Our  hero  describes  how  he  was  induced  to 
attend  the  revival  by  some  "  worldly  young  men  " 
who  thought  to  have  sport  with  him :  "  Some 
of  the  young  men  who  spent  their  evenings  with 
me  listening  to  my  sea  yarns  invited  me  to  attend 
a  meeting  of  the  Methodist  Church.  But  they 
greatly  misjudged  the  character  of  seamen.  I 
attended  the  meeting  but  not  to  make  sport.  One 
Sabbath  evening  my  friend  Ella  Dunham  asked : 

" '  When  do  you  intend  to  set  out  and  seek 
religion  ?  '  I  replied,  somewhat  evasively : 

" '  Any  time/ 

"  '  Well '  said  he,  '  are  you  willing  we  should 
pray  for  you  and  will  you  go  forward  for  prayers 
to-night?' 

"To  this  I  replied  that  I  would  think  of  it. 
The  meeting  proved  to  be  intensely  interesting. 
My  desire  to  express  the  inward  working  of  my 

mind  grew  strong I  determined  to  rise 

and  speak  though  the  Evil  One  whispered  '  Not 
yet,  not  yet '  in  my  ears. 

"  Just  as  I  stood  up,  some  one  (not  seeing  me) 
began  to  sing  but  my  friend  Dunham  checked  the 
singing  '  because  a  young  man  wished  to  speak.' 
He  had  seen  my  move.  Thus  encouraged  I  told 


1 86  HOMEWARD  BOUND. 

them  I  was  then  nineteen  years  old  and  it  seemed 
to  me  too  much  of  life  to  spend  in  sin,  that  eternity 
was  a  solemn  idea  and  I  desired  them  to  tell  me 
how  to  enter  upon  it  with  joy.  They  proposed  to 
pray  with  me.  We  then  all  kneeled  down  to 
gether.  Most  fervently  did  they  pray  for  the 
divine  blessing  to  rest  on  the  stranger  youth, 
bowed  in  penitence  before  them  and  most  sin 
cerely  did  I  join  my  prayers  with  theirs  before 
the  throne  of  God." 

Samuel  records  that  of  all  his  shipmates  who 
survived  the  naval  battle  of  October  25,  1812,  he 
knew  of  only  one,  besides  himself,  who  embraced 
religion  ;  and  his  name — singularly  enough — was 
John  Whiskey. 

In  all  his  wanderings  Samuel  had  not  forgotten 
his  mother  but,  owing  to  his  frequent  changes  of 
address,  he  did  not  get  a  letter  from  her  until  he 
had  settled  in  Connecticut — some  eight  years  after 
leaving  Blenheim.  How  eagerly  the  good  woman 
had  followed  the  fortunes  of  her  son  is  revealed 
in  the  opening  words  of  this,  her  heart's  message  : 
"  My  dearly  beloved  Child.  I  cannot  describe  the 
sensations  I  felt  when  I  received  a  letter  from 
your  dear  hands.  It  was  the  greatest  pleasure  I 

have  enjoyed  since  you  left  me I  sent 

your  letter  to  Lady  Churchill,  formerly  Lady 


FEAR  OF  THE  HALTER.  187 

Francis  Spencer.  Both  Lord  and  Lady  Churchill 
were  glad  to  hear  from  you  and  are  your  well- 
wishers.  The  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Marlbor- 

ough  are  both  dead Lord  Francis  makes  a 

very  good  master." 

Much  as  Samuel  desired  to  visit  England  and 
again  see  his  beloved  mother,  he  was  deterred 
from  so  doing  on  account  of  his  desertion  from 
the  British  navy.  This  fear  was  enhanced  by  a 
conversation  he  had  with  the  traveler,  Lorenzo 
Dow,  who  assured  Samuel  that  he  had  recently 
seen  four  men  hanged  in  England  for  just  such 
an  offense  as  our  hero  had  committed. 

Samuel  then  endeavored  to  persuade  his 
mother  and  his  step- father  to  emigrate  to  America 
but,  before  his  letter  reached  England,  Mr.  New 
man  died  and  Mrs.  Newman  felt  that  it  would 
be  unwise  to  migrate  at  her  time  of  life. 

Soon  afterward  Samuel  left  his  employer  in 
Mansfield  and,  purchasing  a  horse  and  wagon, 
started  into  business  for  himself;  traveling  from 
town  to  town,  selling  steelyards  etc.  Accumulat 
ing  a  small  capital  in  this  way  he  opened  a  store 
in  Mansfield. 

Like  nearly  all  New  England  stores  in  those 
days  the  one  opened  by  our  hero  had  a  corner 
where  intoxicating  liquor  could  be  obtained.  But 
13 


i88  HOMEWARD  BOUND. 

soon  afterward,  hearing  a  temperance  sermon  by 
Dr.  Hawes  of  Hartford,  he  gave  up  that  lucrative 
branch  of  .the  business.  He  said :  "  I  could  hold 
out  no  longer,  in  spite  of  the  example  of  our  best 
citizens  (some  of  whom  often  drank,  though  spar 
ingly,  at  my  house)  I  gave  it  up I  have  ever 

regarded  that  act  as  among  the  best  of  my  life." 

In  time,  Samuel  married  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  church  and  went  to  Somers,  Conn., 
from  which  place  he  soon  moved  and  finally 
settled  in  Wilbraham,  Mass.  Here  the  years 
glided  pleasantly  and  swiftly  as  our  hero  pros 
pered  in  business  and  grew  in  the  esteem  of  his 
fellow  townsmen. 

A  matter  of  business  calling  him  to  New  York, 
Samuel  learned  that  the  Macedonian  was  in  that 
port;  and,  with  true  sailor-like  attachment  for 
the  "  old  ship,"  he  visited  her.  He  records :  "  I 
stood  on  the  spot  where  I  had  fought  in  the  din 
of  battle  and,  with  many  a  serious  reflection,  re 
called  the  horrors  of  that  dreadful  scene.  The 
sailors,  on  witnessing  the  care  with  which  I 
examined  everything,  and  supposing  me  to  be  a 
landman,  eyed  me  rather  closely.  Seeing  their 
curiosity,  I  said : 

" '  Shipmates,  I  have  seen  this  vessel  before 
to-day ;  probably  before  any  of  you  did.' 


FAMILIAR  SCENES.  189 

"  The  old  tars  gathered  around  me,  eagerly 
listening  to  my  tale  of  the  battle  and  they  bore 
patiently  and  with  becoming  gravity  the  exhor 
tation  to  lead  a  religious  life  with  which  I  closed 
my  address." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
AGAIN  AT  BLENHEIM. 

As  has  already  appeared  in  these  pages,  Mr. 
Leech — we  must  now  be  more  careful  in  men 
tioning  him  for,  not  only  did  he  have  a  wife  and 
three  children  but  he  had  attained  the  proud 
distinction  of  being  a  sovereign  American  citizen 
— had  long  intended  to  make  a  visit  to  England  to 
see  his  mother  and  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood 
again,  but  had  been  deterred  from  so  doing  by 
fear  of  death  for  desertion  from  the  British  navy. 

To  remove  this  obstacle  his  mother,  through 
the  influence  of  Lady  Churchill,  secured  the  fol 
lowing  official  protection  for  our  hero: 

LOWER  BROOK  STREET,  Nov.  7,  1821. 
MRS.  NEWMAN: 

I  consulted  my  brother  William  upon  the  subject  on 
which  you  wish  for  advice,  as  neither  Lord  C.  nor 
myself  could  undertake  to  answer  your  inquiry;  and  I 
am  glad  to  hear  from  him  the  following  explanation  in 
reply:  "There  is  nothing  to  prevent  Mrs.  Newman's 
son  from  coming  home;  for  when  the  war  was  termi 
nated,  he  was  safe,  even  if  he  had  entered  the  enemy's 


A  MAN  OF  FAMILY.  191 

service;  but  he  will,  of  course,  forfeit  the  pay  and  any 
prize  money  due  him." 

I  am,  much  yours, 

F.  CHURCHILL. 

While  he  was  unmarried,  a  trip  to  England  and 
back  would  have  been  an  easy  matter  for  our 
hero  but  now,  that  he  was  a  man  of  family,  the 
items  of  passage  money  and  incidental  expenses, 
assumed  formidable  proportions.  It  was  this 
serious  aspect  of  the  undertaking  that  induced 
Mr.  Leech  to  urge  his  mother  to  emigrate  to 
America,  where  he  promised  her  a  warm  welcome 
and  a  comfortable  home.  But  the  good  woman 
was  too  deeply  attached  to  British  soil  to  be  up 
rooted  in  her  old  age  and,  between  urging  on  one 
side  and  entreating  on  the  other,  the  years  flew 
by. 

At  last  Mr.  Leech  received  a  letter  from  his 
mother  which  decided  him  to  undertake  the  voy 
age  ;  so,  one  pleasant  morning  early  in  June,  1841, 
the  Leech  family,  formidably  protected  with 
baggage,  set  out  from  Wilbraham  and,  after  a 
pleasant  passage  by  way  of  Springfield  and  Hart 
ford,  arrived  in  New  York  where  they  took 
passage  in  the  "  splendid  packet-ship  George 
Washington"  bound  for  Liverpool. 

After  a  "  quick  run  of  twenty  days,"  they 
arrived  at  Liverpool  and  it  was  here  that  our 


192  AGAIN  AT  BLENHEIM. 

hero's  well  engrafted  Americanism  began  to 
assert  itself.  Having  bestowed  due  praise  on  the 
magnificent  docks,  he  had  to  contrast  "  the  dark, 
dingy  aspect  of  Liverpool,  everywhere  discolored 
by  the  fumes  of  coal-smoke,  with  the  light,  cheer 
ful  aspect  of  our  American  cities ;  and  giving 
preference  to  the  latter,  notwithstanding  my  Eng 
lish  prejudices." 

After  passing  through  the  charming  rural 
scenery  between  Liverpool  and  Stafford,  and  di 
lating  on  the  risk  he  ran  of  "  being  torn  asunder 
by  the  eagerness  of  two  hackmen  who,  as  we 
were  the  only  passengers  left  at  the  station,  were 
especially  zealous  for  our  patronage,"  Mr.  Leech 
and  family  were  soon  deposited  at  the  door  of  his 
sister,  the  wife  of  William  Tills. 

"  Although  I  had  not  seen  her  for  thirty  years 
yet,  no  sooner  did  she  see  me  than,  throw 
ing  her  arms  around  my  neck,  she  exclaimed: 
'  Oh,  my  Brother ! '  I  need  not  add  that  our 
reception  was  cordial  and  our  stay  with  them 
characterized  by  every  trait  of  genuine  hospi 
tality." 

Here,  also,  our  hero  showed  his  good  citizen 
ship  when  he  records :  "  Having  been  so  long 
away  from  England,  everything  peculiarly  Eng 
lish  struck  me  with  almost  as  much  force  as  it 
would  a  native  American.  Hence  my  feelings  re- 


AT  THE  OLD  HOME.  193 

volted  at  the  sight  of  innumerable  beggars  and 
vagrants,  who  crowded  the  streets ;  and  houseless 
families  imploring  a  crust  for  their  half-naked 
little  ones  with  many  a  tale  of  sorrow,  were  sights 
that  greeted  my  eyes  and  pained  my  heart  every 
day." 

Remaining  a  week  with  the  hospitable  Tills 
our  American  friends  proceeded  to  Birmingham 
and  thence  by  stage  to  Woodstock,  "  subject,  how 
ever,  to  the  incessant  exactions  of  a  host  of 
waiters,  guards  and  coachmen  who  all  wanted  to 
be  '  remembered/ '' 

"  Oh,  I'll  never  forget  you,"  was  Mr.  Leech's 
vexed  reply. 

"  The  country  through  which  we  rode  was 
delightful,"  continued  our  hero. 

About  dusk,  .the  stage  drew  up  with  the  usual 
bustle  of  importance  and  ceremony  at  the  Marl- 
borough  Arms,  the  same  hostlery  from  which  our 
hero  had  departed,  thirty-one  years  before,  in 
search  of  fame  and  fortune.  "The  first  object 
that  met  my  eye,"  he  wrote,  "  was  the  revered 
form  of  my  mother,  waiting  on  .the  sidewalk, 
eager  to  embrace  her  much-loved  but  long  absent 
son.  Springing  to  the  ground  I  felt  myself 
locked  in  her  fond  embrace.  That  was  a  moment 
of  exquisite  enjoyment.  Although  my  mother 
was  deeply  moved,  she  maintained  a  calm  dignity 


194  AGAIN  AT  BLENHEIM. 

of  manner.  In  a  few  moments  she  was  showing 
the  way  with  the  agility  of  a  young  woman. 
She  held  a  new-found  grandchild  at  each  hand. 
Reaching  her  residence,  which  was  near  by,  we 
were  soon  seated  around  the  well-loaded  board, 
the  happiest  family  party  in  the  world." 

While  at  Blenheim,  Mr.  Leech  paid  a  visit 
to  Oxford  and  saw  the  room  in  which  John 
Wesley  studied  and  other  places  associated  with 
the  birth  of  Methodism.  Returning  to  Bladen, 
our  hero  made  preparations  for  the  return  trip  to 
America.  He  records :  "  After  receiving  the 
utmost  kindness,  hospitality  and  evidences  of 
friendship  from  my  family  and  friends,  I  took 
leave  of  them  forever.  Many  of  the  neighbors, 
with  my  mother,  accompanied  me  to  Woodstock. 
There  I  wished  her  adieu  and,  while  the  coach 
whirled  away,  she  stood  following  us  with  her 
eyes,  the  last  of  the  company,  until  a  projection 
of  the  park  wall  hid  us  from  each  other — and 
forever.  Who  could  forbear  a  tear  in  such  a 
moment  ?  I  could  not,  and  suffered  the  big  drops 
to  roll  down  my  cheeks  at  will." 

Passing  on  to  London,  Mr.  Leech  visited  Wan- 
stead  and  learned  that  his  aunt — she  of  the 
twenty-two  sons  and  two  daughters — was  yet 
alive.  Our  hero  says :  "  My  brother  asked  her 
if  she  knew  me.  Peering  through  her  spectacles 


A  PERILOUS  VOYAGE.  195 

and  summoning  up  the  imagery  of  the  past,  she 
at  length  called  to  mind  her  former  protege  and 
clasped  me  to  her  arms  with  evident  gratification." 

On  the  25th  of  August  Mr.  Leech  and  family 
sailed  from  London  "  in  a  fine  ship  commanded 
by  Captain  Eldridge,  bound  for  Boston,"  and  after 
a  most  tempestuous  passage  of  seventy-five  days, 
arrived  at  their  destination.  Returning  to  Wil- 
braham,  "  we  were  hailed/'  says  Mr.  Leech,  "  with 
joyful  congratulations  by  our  neighbors  who  had 
begun  to  mourn  us  as  among  the  lost  at  sea." 

Shortly  after  his  return  to  America  our  hero 
received  a  letter  announcing  the  death  of  his 
mother.  Samuel  Leech  died  in  the  year  1848  in 
Wilbraham. 


INDEX. 


Adams,    boatswain's    mate, 

113- 

Admiralty's  confidential 

note,  18,  19. 
Adventure,  150. 
Aldrich,  sailor,  102. 
Angola,  152,  154,  155. 
Antigua,  26. 

Archer,  midshipman,  122. 
Ascension  island,  155. 

Badiem,  Dutchman,  161-163, 

168. 

Band  of  music,  66,  67,  168. 
Banquet  of  victory,  131. 
Barton,  148-150. 
Bay  of  Biscay,  60,  61. 
Belem  Castle,  37. 
Benton  &  Co.,  136,  183. 
Bight  o'  Lisbon,  59. 
Black  Tom,  63,  64. 
Bladen  festival,  28. 
Bladen   village,    27,    33,   80, 

194. 

Blenheim,  24. 
Blenheim,  battle  of,  27. 
Blenheim  palace,  28,  29. 
Blenheim  park,  28. 
Boston,  37. 
Boxer,  183-184. 
Brest,  81,  83. 
"  Broomers,"  74. 
Brown,  William,  113,  114. 


Bunker  Hill,  battle  of,  161, 
162. 

Caesar,  54. 

Canary  Islands,  142. 

Canister  shot,  107. 

Cape  Three  Points,  147. 

Cape  Town,  158,  162,  170. 

Card,  John,  97,  98. 

Garden,  John  Surman,  47, 
56 ;  commands  Macedo 
nian,  65;  as  a  musician, 
67,  72-74;  at  Norfolk,  78, 
86,  87;  in  battle  against 
United  States,  93-129. 

Carpenter,  William,  179,  180. 

Carruth,  William  Ward,  16. 

Carson,  Captain,  56. 

Chesapeake,  67. 

Christmas,  aboard,  41,  42 ;  in 
prison,  163. 

"  Chronicle,"    London,    120, 

121. 

Churchill,  John,  27. 
Churchill,  Lady  Francis,  17, 

187,  190. 

Churchill,  Lord,  23,  108,  191. 
City  Hotel,  131. 
Collier,  Sir  George,  88. 
Constitution,  18,  19,  85,  88, 

90,  139. 

Cooper,  boy,  105. 
Counterfeiting,  178. 


198 


INDEX. 


Coventry,  184. 
Crowninshield,  Mr.,  174. 
Cumberland,  170,  171. 
Cyane,  46,  87,  90. 

Danube  river,  27. 
Dartmoor  prison,  178. 
Dawson,  boatswain,  125,  130. 
Day,  James,  125,  133. 
Deal,  Lewis,  138. 
Decatur,  Mrs.,  132. 
Decatur,     Stephen,    77,    78, 

115,  u6,  131,  132. 
Division  of  labor  in  frigates, 

43-46. 

Dow,  Lorenzo,  187. 
Dunham,  Ella,  185. 
Dutch  courage,  46. 

East  Indies,  93. 

Elba,  173- 

Eldridge,  Capt,  195. 

Elms,  Mrs.,  130. 

Endymion,  90. 

Epping  forest,  22. 

Escaped    French    prisoners, 

82,  83. 
Essex,  frigate,  50,  118. 

Fayal,  90. 

Fish  Market,  Lisbon,  58,  59. 

Fitzroy,  William,  17,  22,  29, 

30,  33,  5^  52;  cashiered, 

55,  56;  65. 
Flogging,    46,    47;    through 

the  fleet,  48-50. 
Fly  Market,  New  York,  130. 
Frolic,  139. 

Gale,  midshipman,  47. 
Garvey,  William,  36. 
General  Armstrong,  90. 


George  Washington,  191. 
Goat,  Macedonian's,  104. 
Grafton,  Duke  of,  17,  22,  23. 
Grampus,  171,  173,  174. 
Grand  Turk,  141,  143. 
Grapeshot,  107. 
Gravesend,  33. 
Greenock,  54. 
Grog,  46. 
Guerriere,  18,  19,  85,  89,  116. 

Half  Moon  Battery,  37. 

Halifax,  124, 

Hammond,  Bob,  70-74. 

Hampton  Roads,  76,  77. 

Hannibal,  54. 

"  Happy  Jack,"  52,  53. 

Harper,  William,  134. 

Hartford,  133,  184- 

Hawes,  Rev.,  188. 

Hell  Gate,  123. 

Hessians,  42. 

Hill,  Rev.  Rowland,  169. 

Hope,  David,  60,  73,  103,  108. 

Hornet,  90. 

Hudson,  sailor,  35. 

Impressing  sailors,  57,  60. 

Jack,  Dr.,  164. 
Jane,  147,  151. 
Java,  18,  85. 
Jennings,  Sarah,  27. 
John  Adams,  133,  135,  156. 
Jones,  Captain,  176,  182. 

Kivell,  Nan,  102. 

Lake  Borgne,  90. 

Leander,  88. 

Leech,  Mr.,  17,  22,  30. 


INDEX. 


199 


Leech,  Mrs.,  26,  30,  34,  35, 
108,  186,  187  igo,  192-194. 

Leech,  Samuel,  birth  and 
childhood,  21-31 ;  first  ex 
periences  aboard,  32-36 ; 
at  Lisbon,  37-74;  at  Nor 
folk,  75-78;  at  Plymouth, 
80,  81 ;  on  French  coast, 
82-84;  his  narrative  of  the 
United  States-Macedonian 
battle,  92-117;  Newport  to 
New  York,  122,  123;  es 
cape  from  Macedonian, 
124-127;  attends  banquet, 
131,  132;  enlisting  in  U. 
S.  Navy,  134,  135;  be 
comes  a  shoemaker,  136; 
at  Salem,  137-139;  ships 
in  Siren,  139,  140;  death 
of  Capt.  Parker,  142;  on 
west  coast  of  Africa,  143- 
146;  "Battle  of  Senegal," 
147 ;  learns  value  of  water, 
151-153;  captured  by  Med- 
way,  154-157;  in  south 
African  prison,  158-169; 
dangerous  passage  to  Eng 
land,  170-177 ;  returning 
to  America,  178-183;  in 
Boxer,  184,  185;  joins 
church,  185,  186;  visit  to 
England,  190-194;  death, 
195- 

Leopard,  67. 

Levant,  46,  87,  90. 

Lewis,  sailing-master,  55. 

Lisbon,  37-42. 

Liverpool,  192. 

Logholm,  sailor,  68,  HI. 

London,  26,  33. 

Long  Island  Sound,  121. 


Macedonian,  17-19,  29;  fit 
ting  at  Gravesend,  33-371 
at  Lisbon,  37-42;  nearly 
founders,  60,  61 ;  at  Hamp 
ton  Roads,  75-78;  at  Ply 
mouth,  80-82;  battle  with 
the  United  States,  86-129; 
in  America,  130,  188. 

Mackenzie,  Capt.  A.  S.,  78. 

Madeira,  69,  93. 

Mahan,  Alfred  Thayer,  16. 

Mansfield,  184,  187. 

Marlborough  Arms,  33,  193. 

Marlborough,  Duke  of,  17, 
26,  28,  33- 

Marsh,  Surgeon,  62,  no. 

McNiell,  Captain,  66,  67. 

Medway,  157,  158,  171,  176. 

Merrimac,  18,  85,  86. 

Messina,  66. 

Monitor,  18,  85,  86. 

Moscow,  120. 

Mount  Cintra,  79. 

Musicians  in  Macedonian, 
66,  67 ;  in  battle,  96,  97. 

Nan,  ship's  goat,  104. 
Nan  Kivell  (see  Kivell). 
Napoleon,  120,  173. 
Nautilus,  go. 
Nelson,  Lord,  98. 
New  Haven,  184. 
New  London,  121,  122,  124. 
Newman,  Mr.,  26,  27,  187. 
Newman,  Mrs.    (see  Leech, 

Mrs.). 

Newport,  122. 
New    York,    123,    124,    130, 

182,  183. 
Nicholson,  John  B.,  109,  no, 

130;  in  Siren,  141-158,  173, 

175,  179- 


200 


INDEX. 


Nightingale  Place,  22. 
Norfolk,  75,  77,  no. 
Northumberland,  54. 
Nova  Scotia,  129. 
Nugent,  negro,  56,  57. 

Old  Ironsides,  139. 
Old  Wagon,  116. 
Oxford,  194. 

Paris,  173. 

Parker,  George,  139,  142. 

Peacock,  90. 

Penguin,  90. 

Philadelphia,  133-135- 

"  Philamadelph,"  133,  134. 

Plum  duff,  46. 

Plymouth,  80-82,  92,  176. 

Porter,  David,  183,  184. 

Portsmouth,  88. 

"  Post  Office,"  155. 

Powder-monkey,  38. 

President,  19,  86,  88,  90. 

Pressgangs,  57,  60. 

Prison  at  Cape  Town,  160- 

170. 

Providence,  137. 
Puissant,  175,  176. 

Quaqua,  Samuel,  150. 

Reed,  carpenter,  no. 
Rochelle,  81. 
Rover,  176. 
Royal  Sovereign,  177. 

Sadler,  John,  71,  72,  105,  132, 

.133- 

Salem,  137,  174,  175. 
Sanders,  steward,  38. 
Senegal  river,  146,  147. 


Simon's  Bay,  158,  168. 
Siren,  139;  cruise,  141-158. 
Smith,  Captain,  50. 
Smith,  soldier,  136. 
Somers,  Mass.,  188. 
Spencer,   Lady   Francis,    17, 

23,  29,  30,  187. 
Spencer,   Lord    Francis,  23, 

29,  187. 

Spithead,  37,  175. 
"  Statesman,"  London,  88. 
St.  Helena,  172. 
St.  Michael's,  69. 
St.   Thomas,    147,    148,    151, 

154. 

Suttonwood,  Richard,  51,  52. 
Tagus,  37,  79. 
Thames  river,  33. 
Thorn,  Rev.  George,  168-170. 
Thompson,  John,  61,  62. 
"Thunderer,"    The     (see 

"Times  "). 

Tills,  William,  192,  193. 
"  Times,"  London,  18,  88-90, 

119,  120. 

Tinker,  N.  Y.  pilot,  124. 
Torbay,  92. 
Trenton,  42. 
Trinidad,  26. 
"  Trunk,"  The,  166,  167. 
Turner  boys,  24. 
Turner,  George,  25,  136,  137. 
Turner,  Mrs.,  23,  194,  195. 
Turner,  Mrs.  Jr.,  137. 

United  States,  18,  19;  at 
Norfolk,  78,  85;  battle 
with  Macedonian,  86-129; 
in  New  York,  130,  131. 

Wagoners,  116,  117. 
Waldgrave,  Captain,  56. 


INDEX. 


201 


Walthamstow,  23. 
Wanstead,  21,  22,  26,  28, 
Ward  Island,  123. 
Washington,  42. 
Watson,  George,  156. 
Watson,  sailor,  108. 
Wells,  sailor,  112. 
Wesley,  John,  194. 
West  India  Docks,  26. 
Whisky,  John,  186. 


194. 


Whittaker,  Thomas,  122. 
Wilbraham,  188,  191,  195. 
Wineburg,  159. 
Women  in  men-of-war,  61, 

69,  70. 
Woodrop   Simms,   176,   178- 

182. 
Woodstock,  26,  27,  193. 

Young  Macedonian,  84. 


THE  END. 


BY  EDGAR   STANTON   MACLAY. 


A  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY, 

From  the  earliest  times  to  1902  in  three  8vo  vols.  with  a  total  of 
1832  pages  and  170  maps,  diagrams  and  illustrations.  Index. 
Third  edition  published  in  1902.  $3  a  volume. 

This  monumental  work,  from  the  time  it  was  first  published, 
1894,  has  been  pronounced  by  the  leading  literary  critics  of 
America,  Europe  and  Japan  as  THE  STANDARD. 

Extract  from  chapter  on  "  Battle  in  Mobile  Bay,"  vol.  II,  pp.  425- 
426:  "The  view  of  the  battle  obtained  from  the  tops  of  the  National 
vessels  was  one  of  appalling  grandeur.  To  windward  the  fleet  and 
harbor  were  spread  out  in  a  beautiful  panorama,  the  crews  being  dis 
tinctly  seen  firing  and  reloading  their  guns,  while  officers  stood  at  the 
back  of  their  men  to  see  that  there  was  no  flinching,  and  others  ran  to 
and  fro  shouting  orders  in  their  endeavors  to  prevent  a  collision.  To 
leeward  dense  volumes  of  smoke,  illuminated  by  the  rapid  flashes  of 
guns,  partly  obstructed  the  vision,  but  in  the  occasional  rifts  a  tall 
mast  with  men  in  the  rigging  and  with  Old  Glory  still  flying  in  the 
breeze  would  be  revealed.  Above  all  rose  the  dreadful  roar  of  the 
tremendous  cannonading,  whose  sharp  impact  upon  the  ear,  giving  the 
peculiar  sound  of  shotted  guns,  seemed  to  come  from  all  quarters  with 
deafening  rapidity,  while  the  ships  and  their  masts  quivered  like  aspens 
from  the  recoil  of  their  murderous  broadsides. 

"  A  glance  below  on  the  deck  of  the  Hartford  revealed  the  men  in 
their  different  capacities,  some  loading  and  aiming  the  guns,  some 
bringing  up  ammunition  and  others  carrying  down  the  wounded ;  but 
all  stimulated  to  their  utmost  exertions  by  the  ever-vigilant  officers. 
Most  of  the  men  were  stripped  to  the  waist,  many  of  them  smeared 
with  the  blood  of  shipmates  whom  they  had  carried  below.  Others, 
although  wounded,  refused  to  go  below  and  remained  on  deck  fighting. 

"  What  a  pandemonium !  What  a  hell  upon  earth  !  Shot,  shell,  grape, 
shrapnel  and  canister.  How  they  shriek !  How  the  men  fight !  drag 
ging  dead  or  wounded  shipmates  away  so  as  not  to  encumber  the  guns. 
Bloody  and  blackened  with  burned  powder,  the  perspiration  running 
down  their  bodies  revealing  streaks  of  white  skin,  causes  them  to  look 
like  fiends.  The  sight  of  their  fallen  shipmates  arouses  the  brutish 
thirst  for  vengeance  and  they  load  and  fire  with  muttered  imprecations 
on  the  enemy.  Their  officers  walk  among  them  with  '  Steady,  boys ! ', 
'  Take  your  time  ! ',  'Be  sure  of  your  aim  ! ',  '  Let  each  shot  tell ! ' 

"  In  the  midst  of  all  this  uproar  stand  Drayton  and  his  executive 
officer,  Kimberly,  the  latter  smiling  and  twirling  his  goatee;  both  as 
cool  as  if  "twa  a  daily  drill.1  It  was  in  reference  to  the  heroism  of 
the  crew  that  Brownell  wrote : 

"'But  ah,  the  pluck  of  the  crew! 

" '  Had  you  stood  on  that  deck  of  ours 

" '  You  had  seen  what  men  may  do.' " 


BY   EDGAR    STANTON   MACLAY. 


A  HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PRIVATEERS, 

Uniform  with  and  forming  vol.  IV  of  Maclay's  History  of  the  U. 
S.  Navy,  8vo,  559  pages,  37  specially  prepared  maps,  diagrams  and 
illustrations,  index,  published  1898 — $3. 

It  stands  alone  as  a  remarkable  story  of  American  daring,  enter 
prise  and  consummate  pluck  and  nautical  skill. 

Extract  from  chapter  on  "An  Escape  From  Mill  Prison"  (England), 
pp.  160-161  :  "  On  leaping  over  the  hedge  he  [Lieut.  Joshua  Barney, 
U.  S.  N.]  found  himself  in  the  superb  private  grounds  of  Lord  Edge- 
combe.  Wandering  about  in  search  of  the  servants'  house,  he  was  dis 
covered  by  the  gardener,  who  was  much  incensed  by  the  intrusion. 
Barney  pacified  him  by  explaining  that  he  had  injured  his  leg  and  was 
seeking  the  shortest  way  to  Plymouth.  Giving  the  gardener  a  tip, 
Barney  was  conducted  to  a  private  gate  opening  on  the  river  and  hail 
ing  a  butcher  who  was  going  by  in  a  small _  wherry  with  two  sheep 
to  market,  our  adventurer  got  aboard.  By  this  means  Barney  avoided 
the  necessity  of  crossing  the  river  by  the  public  ferry,  and  also  that  of 
passing  by  Mill  Prison  and  a  chance  of  meeting  the  guard. 

"  Immediately  on  receiving  the  report  of  the  privateer's  commander, 
Admiral  Digby  caused  an  inquiry  to  be  made  in  all  the  prisons  and 
places  of  confinement  in  or  near  Plymouth,  and  at  the  time  Barney 
was  sliding  down  the  rope  over  the  privateer's  stern  to  get  into  a  boat, 
his  escape  from  Mill  Prison  was  discovered ;  and  at  the  moment  he 
passed  through  Lord  Edgecombe's  private  gate  to  the  riverside,  the 
tramp  of  the  soldiers — all  of  whom  were  familiar  with  Barney — was 
heard,  passing  the  very  hedge  he  had  just  vaulted  over,  on  their  way 
to  take  him  back  to  prison. 

"  That  night  Barney  gained  the  house  of  the  venerable  clergyman 
that  he  had  left  only  the  morning  before.  The  same  evening  Colonel 
Richardson  and  Dr.  Hindman  arrived  at  this  house  also,  having  been 
released  from  the  privateer  after  the  guard  from  Mill  Prison  had  in 
spected  them.  While  these  futigives  were  seated  at  supper,  laughing 
and  joking  over  their  hapless  adventures,  the  bell  of  the  town-crier 
was  heard  under  the  windows  and  the  reward  of  five  guineas  for  the 
apprehension  of  'Joshua  Barney,  a  rebel  deserter  from  Mill  Prison,' 
was  proclaimed.  For  a  moment ,"  etc. 

REMINISCENCES  OF  THE  OLD  NAVY, 

From  the  journals  and  private  papers  of  Captain  Edward  Trench- 
ard,  U.  S.  N.,  and  Rear-Admiral  Stephen  Decatur  Trenchard,  U. 
S.  N.,  8vo,  372  pages,  index,  $2.50. 

It  gives  fascinating  "  inside  "  glimpses  of  our  navy  from  1800  to 
1883. 

Extract  from  chapter  "  On  The  W7est  Coast  of  Africa,"  pp.   18-20 : 
"The  musicians  of  the  high  seas  in  those  days   [1820]   did  not  occupy 
14  203 


BY  EDGAR  STANTON  MACLAY. 


the  important  position  they  hold  in  firstclass  cruisers  to-day,  and  the 
few  lone  and  lorn  manipulators  of  wood  and  brass  in  the  Cyane,  in  all 
probability,  would  have  made  a  poor  showing  in  the  highly  cultivated 
musical  ear  of  the  modern  Jack  Tar.  In  fact,  musicians  at  that  time 
were  regarded  with  condescending  contempt  by  the  hardy  sailors  as 
being,  perhaps,  good  enough  to  tickle  the  ear  with  their  tingling  notes 
or  to  twitch  a  few  muscles  of  the  limbs  into  a  jigging  mood  in  fair 
weather;  but  when  it  came  to  real  work,  and  an  enemy  was  to  be 
fought,  they  were  fit  only  to  be  stowed  away  in  a  cable  tier.  But  how 
ever  that  may  be,  the  Jack  Tar  of  that  day  had  not  the  high  musical 
mind  of  his  descendants  of  to-day  and  he  undoubtedly  tolerated  the 
tingling  brass  and  the  wheezy  wood  with  his  usual,  good-natured  in 
difference. 

"  The  natives  on  the  coast,  however,  were  immensely  impressed  with 
the  Cyane' s  band.  To  hear  it  was  one  of  the  events  on  the  West 
African  coast ;  and  its  fame  extended  even  to  the  islands  of  the  seas 
as  the  following  incident  will  show :  On  May  19,  1820,  the  Cyane  put 
into  Port  Praya,  after  a  cruise  in  search  of  slavers.  The  fame  of 
her  band  had  preceded  her  for  scarcely  had  she  dropped  anchor  when  a 
messenger  came  aboard  with  the  announcement  that  '  His  Excellency, 
the  Governor-General,  solicits  the  pleasure  of  Captain  Trenchard's 
company,  with  that  of  all  the  officers  of  the  Cyane,  to  tea  this  evening 
and  would  be  highly  gratified  with  having  a  few  tunes  from  Captain 
Trenchard's  band,  which  he  solicits  may  be  permitted  to  come  on  shore 
with  their  musical  instruments,  as  the  evening  will  be  rendered  delight 
ful  and  pleasant  by  a  full  moon.'  This  enchanting  invitation  to  'tea' 
and  a  '  full  moon  '  was  sent  through  one  Hodges,  an  English-speaking 
person  on  the  island — and  the  above  is  as  near  a  literal  interpretation 
as  can  be  given. 

"  Captain  Trenchard  complied  with  the  request  and  attended  the  Gov 
ernor.  After  a  decent  amount  of  time  had  been  allowed  the  American 
officers  for  the  contemplation  of  the  tea  and  the  full  moon,  the  natives 
were  treated  to,  what  to  them  were,  the  awe-inspiring  sounds  from  the 
Cyane' s  band.  With  forethought  bred  by  experience,  the  band-master 
labelled  in  advance  the  tunes  that  he  was  about  to'  render  so  that  the 
audience  would  have  no  difficulty  in  knowing  what  melody  they  were 
'  feasting '  upon.  So  impressed  were  the  natives  by  this  revelation  of 
sound  that  the  Governor,  on  the  following  Sunday,  when  the  moon  had 
again  recovered  her  position  in  the  heaven  after  her  fullness,  invited 
Captain  Trenchard  and  Lieutenant  Mervine  '  and  any  of  the  officers 
that  can  be  spared  from  the  ship '  to  dinner — and,  of  course  the  band 
had  to  be  exhibited  again." 


NAVY  BLUE  COMPANY 

GREENLAWN,  N.  Y. 

204 


BY   EDGAR    STANTON   MACLAY. 


ADVENTURES  OF  REAR  ADMIRAL  PHILIP,  U.  S.  N., 

From  the  diary  and  private  records  of  the  late  Rear-Admiral  who 
said :     "  Don't    cheer,     men, 

those    poor    devils    are    dy-     

ing ! "       I2mo,     288     pages, 
$1.50. 

Extract  from  chapter  "  At 
Annapolis,"  p.  58 :  "  One  of  the 
instructors  at  Annapolis  during 
Jack's  novitiate  was  a  greatly  be 
loved  man  whose  only  fault — so 
the  middies  declared — was  that 
of  stammering  when  unusually 
exicited  or  nervous.  One  beau 
tiful  spring  morning,  when  the 
middies  were  drilling  in  in 
fantry  tactics  under  the  care  of 
this  officer,  the  youngsters  were 
marching  toward  the  seawall  and 
were  within  a  few  feet  of  it, 
when  their  commander  en 
deavored  to  give  the  order 
'  Halt ! ' 

"  The  middies  heard  the  hiss 
ing  and  spluttering  noises  be 
hind  them  and  knew  perfectly 
well  what  the  instructor  was  try 
ing  to  say  but,  in  that  spirit  of 
mischief  so  natural  with  boys, 
they  marched  right  over  the  sea 
wall  and  had  waded  into  a  con 
siderable  depth  of  water  before 
the  instructor  finally  gave  vent 
to  the  word  '  Halt ! '  " 


MIDSHIPMAN  PHILIP. 


MOSES  BROWN,  CAPTAIN,  U.  S.  N., 

Captain  Brown  rendered  conspicuous,  though  forgotten,  service  on 
the  ocean  in  the  Revolution  and  the  war  against  France.  12  mo, 
10  illustrations,  index,  220  pages,  $1.50. 

Extract  from  the  chapter  "  A  Prisoner  of  War,"  pp.  93-95 :  "  Three 
days  after  her  capture  of  the  George,  the  career  of  the  privateer  [Gen 
eral  Arnold]  was  cut  short,  she  being  captured  [June  i,  1779]  by  the 
5O-gun  ship  Experiment,  Captain  Sir  James  Wallace.  It  is  related  that 
when  Captain  Brown  gained  the  deck  of  the  Experiment,  Sir  Janies 
asked  him  if  he  was  the  '  Captain  of  that  rebel  ship.'  Brown  replied : 

205 


BY   EDGAR    STANTON   MACLAY. 


i 


'I  was  very  lately;  you  are  now,'  and  offered  to  surrender  his  sword. 
Captain  Wallace  refused  to  receive  it,  saying :  '  I  never  take  a  sword 
from  a  brave  man.' 

"'  Sir  James  continued  to  extend  every  courtesy  to  his  prisoner,  treat 
ing  him  more  as  a  guest.    Taking  Captain  Brown  into  his  private  cabin, 

where  he  met  other  officers  of 
the  ship,  a  general  conversation 
followed  (over  the  traditional 
'glass  of  wine')  upon  the  affairs 
of  the  two  countries,  when  Sir 
James  proposed  as  a  toast  '  His 
Majesty,  King  George  the 
Third.'  It  was  rather  hard  for 
the  doughty  Yankee  skipper  to 
accept  but  he  swallowed  his  wine 
without  remark.  Sir  James  now 
called  on  Brown  for  a  return 
toast — thinking,  from  Brown's 
silence  that  he  had  acquiesced  in 
the  sentiment  and  would  respond 
with  something  of  the  like. 

"  Rising  with  much  dignity 
and  unawed  by  his  position  as  a 
prisoner  aboard  a  powerful 
enemy's  warship,  Captain  Brown 
gave  as  a  toast :  '  His  Ex 
cellency,  General  George  Wash 
ington,  the  Commander-in-chief 
of  the  American  forces.' 

"  The  glass  which  Sir  James 
had  raised  to  his  lips  was  hastily 
lowered  and,  turning  fiercely  on 
his  prisoner,  he  asked :  '  Do 

you  mean  to  insult  me,  sir,  in  my  own  ship  by  proposing  the  name 
of  that  arch  rebel?'  'No,'  replied  Captain  Brown.  'If  there  was 
any  insult  it  was  your  giving,  as  a  toast,  George  the  Third,  which, 
however,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  drink  to,  although  you  must  have  known 
it  could  not  be  agreeable  to  me  who,  at  this  moment,  am  a  guest  al 
though  a  prisoner.'  Sir  James  at  once  perceived  that  if  there  had 
been  a  breach  of  etiquette,  he  had  led  the  way  and,  like  the  honor 
able  man  he  was,  he  suppressed  his  anger  and  drank  to  that  'arch 
rebel '  Washington." 


MOSES   BROWN. 


NAVY  BLUE  COMPANY 

GREENLAWN,  N.  Y. 


206 


BY   EDGAR    STANTON   MACLAY. 


JOURNAL  OF  WILLIAM  MACLAY,  Edited  by  Edgar  Stanton  Maclay, 

William  Maclay,  with  Robert  Morris,  represented  Pennsylvania  in 
the  first  United  States  Senate,  1789-1791.  8vo,  452  pages,  index, 
$2.25. 

Maclay's  successful  fight  against  the  introduction  of  monarchial 
forms  in  the  "  new "  Government  won  for  him  the  title  of 
"  Father  of  the  Democratic  party."  A  "  canopied  throne  "  and 
the  title  of  "His  Elective  Majesty"  for  the  President  would 
have  been  given  had  it  not  been  for  the  sturdy  opposition  made 
by  Senator  Maclay.  His  journal  is  the  only  connected  record  of 
the  first  United  States  Senate. 
Extract  from  pp.  73~74:  "Dined  this  day  [June  n,  1789]  with  Mr. 

Morris     [Se-nator    from    Pennsylvania].      Mr.    Fitzsimmons    and    Mr. 

Clymer    [Representatives   from   Pennsylvania]    all  the  company,  except 

Mrs.  Morris.     Mrs.  Morris  talked  a  great  deal  after  dinner.     She  did 

it  gracefully   enough,  this  being 

a  gayer  place  and  she  being  here 

considered  as  at  least  the  second 

female    character    at   court.      As 

to    taste,    etiquette    etc.,    she    is 

certainly    first.      I    thought    she 

discovered     a     predeliction     for 

New  York  but  perhaps  she  was 

only  doing  it  justice,   while  my 

extreme  aversion,  like  a  jealous 

sentinel,  is  for  giving  no  quarter. 

I,  however,  happened  to  mention 

that  they  were  ill  supplied  with 

the     article     of     cream.       Mrs. 

Morris  had  much  to  say  on  this 

subject;  declared  they  had  done 

all  they  could  and  even  sent  to 

the   country   all   about,   but  that 

they  could  not  be  supplied.     She 

told  many  anecdotes  on  this  sub 
ject;  particularly  how,  two  days 

ago,    she    dined    at    the    Presi 
dent's.       A     large,     fine-looking 

trifle  was  brought  to  table  and 

appeared    exceedingly    well    in 
deed.      She    was    helped   by   the 

President    but    on    taking    some 

of  it,  she  had  to  pass  her  handkerchief  to  her  mouth  and  rid  herself  of 

the  morsel;  on  which  she  whispered  the  President.    The  cream  of  which 

it  is  made  had  been  unusually  stale  and  rancid ;  on  which  the  General 

changed  his  plate  immediately.     '  But/  she  added  with  a  titter,  '  Mrs. 

Washington  ate  a  whole  heap  of  it.'  " 

207 


WILLIAM  MACLAY. 


BY  EDGAR  STANTON  MACLAY. 


PENNSYLVANIA    STATE 

MONUMENT  TO 
SAMUEL   MACLAY. 


DIARY  OF  SAMUEL  MACLAY,  Edited 
by  Edgar  Stanton  Maclay, 

Being  an  account  of  the  first  official 
survey  of  the  West  Branch  of  the 
Susquehanna,  the  Sinnemahoning 

and  Allegheny  rivers  in  1790.  8vo, 
63  pages,  $2. 

Samuel  Maclay,  a  brother  of 
U.  S.  Senator  William  Maclay, 
was  United  States  Senator  from 
Pennsyvania  from  1803  to  1809. 
He  was  a  Congressman  from 
Pennsylvania  i795-'g6,  Speaker 
of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Sen 
ate  1801-1803  and  presided  at 
the  impeachment  trial  of  Judge 
Addison.  On  Oct.  16,  1908,  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania  dedicated 
a  monument  to  his  memory  at 
Lewisburg,  Pa. 


When  selecting  holiday  or  birthday  gifts,  remember  the  standard 
works  on  the  Navy !  By  interesting  lanclfolk  in  the  deeds  of  our  sailors 
and  warships,  you  render  the  Navy  a  distinct  service. 


NAVY  BLUE  COMPANY 

GREENLAWN,  N.  Y. 


208 


BY  EDGAR  STANTON  MACLAY. 


MACLAYS  OF  LURGAN, 

A  complete  record  of  the  descendants  of  Charles  and  John  Maclay, 
who  emigrated  from  Belfast,  Ireland,  in  1734  and  settled  in  Penn 
sylvania.  4to,  80  pages,  $5. 

This  work  has  been  pronounced  a  model  of  genealogical  research 
and  presentation.  It  should  be  in  every  public  library  and 
historical  collection.  For  more  than  a  century  descendants  of 
John  and  Charles  Maclay  have  been  prominent  in  the  history 
of  Pennsylvania  and  other  states. 

Extract  from  p.  14:  "I  [U.  S.  Senator  William  Maclay]  received 
a  ticket  from  the  President  of  the  United  States  [Washington],  to  use 
his  box  this  evening  [May  n,  1789]  at  the  theater,  being  the  first  of 
his  appearance  at  the  play-house  since  his  entering  on  his  office.  Went. 
The  President,  Governor  of  the  State,  Foreign  Ministers,  Senators 
from  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  South 
Carolina,  and  some  ladies  in  the  same  box.  I  am  old  and  notices  or 
attentions  are  lost  on  me.  I  could  have  wished  some  of  my  dear 
children  in  my  place.  They  are  young  and  would  have  enjoyed  it. 
Long  might  one  of  them  live  to  boast  of  their  having  been  seated  in 
the  same  box  with  the  first-  character  in  the  world.  The  play  was 
'  The  School  for  Scandal.'  I  never  liked  it.  Indeed,  I  think  it  an  in 
decent  representation  before  ladies  of  character  and  virtue.  Farce, 
'  The  Old  Soldier.'  The  house  was  greatly  crowded  and  I  thought  the 
players  acted  well ;  but  I  wish  we  had  seen  the  '  Conscious  Lovers '  or 
some  one  that  inculcated  more  prudential  manners." 

A  YOUTHFUL  MAN-O'-WARSMAN. 

This  is  the  only  connected  narrative  of  an  enlisted  American 
sailor  who  served  all  through  the  War  of  1812,  I2mo,  201  pages, 
16  illustrations,  index,  $1.50. 


Send  some  of  the  standard  books  on  our  Navy,  with  your  compli 
ments,  to  the  school  or  public  library  of  your  native  town.  Educate  the 
public  as  to  what  our  Navy  has  done ! 

NAVY  BLUE  COMPANY 

GREENLAWN,  N.  Y. 


THE    STORY    OF   A   HISTORY. 


We  have  often  been  asked :  "  How  came  Edgar  Stanton  Maclay, 
a  landman,  to  write  so  authoritatively  on  the  navy  ?  *'  The  question 
is  natural  and  in  spite  of  Mr.  Maclay's  protest  against  having  "  my 
obituary  published  before  I  am  dead,"  we  will  answer  it  as  well  as 
we  can. 

Although  a  landman,  Mr.  Ma- 
clay  has  traveled  more  exten 
sively  on  the  ocean  than  many 
professional  sailors  besides  being 
an  expert  in  aquatic  arts.  His 
father,  the  late  Rev.  Robert 
Samuel  Maclay,  D.  D.,  was  sent 
out  from  the  Baltimore  Confer 
ence  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  1847  as  one  of  the  first 
missionaries  of  that  denomina 
tion  to  China.  The  historian's 
mother  was  Henrietta  Caroline 
Sperry,  of  Bristol,  Connecticut. 

Edgar  Stanton  Maclay,  the 
youngest  of  eight  children,  was 
born  in  Foochow,  China,  April 
18,  1863.  When  five  years  old  he 
came  to  America  with  his  mother 
where  he  remained  five  years 
and  in  1873  went  with  the  family 
to  Yokohama,  Japan,  remaining 
there  until  1880.  It  was  there 
that  our  historian  received  his 
first  inspiration  for  writing  his 
History  of  the  United  States 
Navy.  His  only  playmates,  dur 
ing  the  seven  years '  he  lived  in 
the  Island  Empire,  were  English, 
French  and  German  boys ;  and 
many  were  the  wordy  battles 
waged  between  them  over  the 

relative  merits  of  their  respective  countries.  Yokohama,  at  that  time, 
was  one  of  the  principal  stations  for  men-of-war  of  nations  maintain 
ing  a  naval  force  in  the  Orient.  Being  an  expert  boatman,  young 
Maclay  spent  many  of  his  leisure  hours  in  his  boat  on  the  broad  waters 
of  Yokohama  Bay,  visiting  and  inspecting  American,  European  and 
Japanese  warships. 

Naturally  the  presence  of  these  belligerent  craft  provoked  discussions 
between  young  Maclay  and  his  European  playmates.  Maclay,  while 
sturdily  upholding  the  American  end  of  these  "verbal  actions,"  often 
found  himself  at  great  disadvantage  because  there  was  no  history  of  the 

210 


REV.  R.  S.  MACLAY,  D.  D. 


THE    STORY    OF   A    HISTORY. 


United  States  Navy,  at  that  time,  from  which  to  replenish  his  stock  of 
wordy  ammunition,  while  his  antagonists  (particularly  the  English  boys) 
fired  broadsides  of  naval  history 
at  him  from  European  historical 
arsenals.  Possibly  the  most 
effective  discharges  came  from 
James'  History  of  the  British 
Navy,  written  by  one  who  was 
especially  bitter  toward  Ameri 
cans.  Young  Maclay  keenly  felt 
his  disadvantage  and  he  deter 
mined  that  his  first  mission  on 
getting  out  of  college  (for 
which  his  -mother  all  this  time 
had  been,  personally,  preparing 
him)  would  be  to  write  a  his 
tory  of  the  United  States  Navy. 

In  1880  young  Maclay  came  to 
the  United"  States  and  in  the  fol 
lowing  year  entered  the  classical 
course  in  Syracuse  University, 
N.  Y.,  being  graduated  in  1885 
with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  Com 
pleting  his  course  two  months 
ahead  of  his  class,  Maclay  went 
to  Europe  to  gather  original 
material  for  his  naval  history. 
Being  supplied  only  with  modest 
funds  by  an  elder  brother,  Ma 
clay  took  steerage  passage,  which 
he  always  declared  was  a  most 
valuable  experience  as  it  placed 
him  on  terms  of  intimacy  with 
the  sailors  and  gave  him  a  practical  insight  into  modern  seamanship 
which  has  manifested  itself  so  remarkably  in  all  his  nautical  writings. 
In  his  persistency  in  getting  original  material,  Maclay  crossed  the 
Atlantic  four  times,  three  of  the  voyages  being  in  the  steerage. 

He  spent  more  than  a  year  in  England,  France,  Holland  and^ Ger 
many  and  was  fortunate  in  unearthing  much  valuable  new  information 
on  American  maritime  history.  In  the  French  Marine  and  Colonial 
archives  and  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nalionale  in  Paris  he  discovered  the 
original  official  reports  of  the  French  commanders  concerned  in  our 
war  against  France,  1798-1800,  which  threw  a  flood  of  light  on  what, 
down  to  that  time,  had  been  an  almost  unknown  chapter  in  our  national 
history.  In  the  British  Museum  Library  and  in  the  Admiralty  Office 
in  London,  where  he  spent  more  than  six  months,  Maclay  unearthed 
many  new  facts  bearing  on  his  theme.  He  expresses  most  satisfaction, 

211 


EDGAR  STANTON  MACLAY. 


THE    STORY    OF   A   HISTORY. 


however,  over  the  documents  he  secured  from  Sir  Provo  Wallis  in 
1886,  then  the  venerable  senior  admiral  of  the  royal  navy,  who  served 
as  first  lieutenant  in  the  English  frigate  Shannon  which  captured  the 
American  frigate  Chesapeake,  June  i,  1813,  off  Boston  harbor.  It  was 
this  meeting  with  Sir  Provo  that  Maclay  regarded  as  "  spanning  a 
century  in  historical  research."  Sir  Provo  died  on  February  13,  1892, 
at  the  age  of  a  little  more  than  one  hundred  years. 

From  Sir  Provo,  Mr.  Maclay  obtained  proof  that  settled  the  thereto 
fore  mooted  question  as  to  whether  or  not  Captain  James  Lawrence 
gave  expression  to  the  words  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship  " — Sir  Provo 
saying  to  Mr.  Maclay  "  We  heard  that  when  they  were  carrying  Cap 
tain  Lawrence  below,  mortally  wounded,  he  uttered  the  words  'Don't 
give  up  the  ship.' " 

Mr.  Maclay  also  obtained  from  Sir  Provo  documents  showing  that 
Captain  Broke's  official  report  of  the  Chesapeake-Shannon  action  was 
an  absolute  forgery — Broke  commanding  the  latter  ship  on  that  occa 
sion.  This  point  was  of  value  in  viewT  of  the  charge  that  many  of  the 
official  reports  of  British  commanders  in  the  naval  war  of  1812,  as 
given  to  the  public,  were  garbled  and  misleading.  This  charge  became 
more  serious  when,  in  response  to  Maclay's  request  to  see  the  original 
papers,  the  Admiralty  wrote  to  him :  "  their  Lordships  express  to  you 
their  regrets  at  not  being  able  to  comply  with  this  request,  as  the  regu 
lations  in  force  preclude  all  public  inspection  of  admiralty  records  after 
the  year  1800." 

Returning  to  America  in  July,  1886,  Maclay  in  two  years  completed 
his  History  of  the  Navy,  then  in  two  volumes,  1775-1866.  For  four 
years  after  that  the  manuscript  went  the  rounds  of  nearly  every  leading 
publishing  house  in  New  York  City.  Not  one  would  accept  it.  Some 
said  "  We  do  not  see  that  the  market  calls  for  a  history  of  the  navy  " 
and  yet,  at  that  time  no  complete  narrative  of  our  navy's  career  was  in 
existence — Cooper's  work,  which  came  down  only  to  the  Mexican  war, 
long  since  having  been  out  of  print.  "  The  fact  of  the  matter,"  said 
Maclay,  "  was  that  i-t  was  rather  too  presumptuous  for  an  unknown 
author,  scarce  twenty-six  years  old,  to  undertake  such  a  pretentious 
work — and  the  publishers,  very  properly  looking  at  it  from  a  strictly 
business  viewpoint,  may  have  been  right.  Anyway,  the  manuscript 
was  knocked  about  in  an  old  satchel  for  six  years,  and  more  than  once 
I  was  tempted  to  burn  it  up." 

Determined  to  emerge  from  the  class  of  "  unknowns,"  Maclay  applied 
himself  diligently  to  other  historical  works.  He  wrote  a  History  of 
the  Maclays  of  Lurgan  (published  1888)  which  has  been  pronounced 
a  model  of  genealogical  record.  He  traced  his  clan  back  to  the  Battle 
of  Bealach  nam  Broig,  1272,  in  the  Scottish  Highlands,  and  gave  a 
complete  account  of  each  of  the  several  hundred  descendants  of  Charles 
and  John  Maclay  who  came  to  America  from  Ireland  in  1734.  The 

212 


THE   STORY    OF   A    HISTORY. 


young  historian  then  published  (1890)  the  Journal  of  William  Maclay 
(U.  S.  Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  1789-1791)  which  proved  to  be  one 
of  the  most  important  additions  to  American  history  in  recent  years 
as  it  gave  the  only  connected  narrative  of  the  doings  of  the  present 
Congress  in  the  first  two  years  of  its  existence. 

Two  articles  written  by  Maclay  and  published  in  the  Century  Maga 
zine  in  the  fall  of  1890  attracted  further  attention  to  the  young  his 
torian  and  it  was  then  that  several  of  the  publishers  who  had  rejected 
his  manuscript  on  the  history  of  the  navy,  re-opened  negotiations  with 
him,  offering  fifty  per  cent  more  than  the  regular  royalties.  These 
offers  were  declined  and  in  1893  the  long-discarded  History  of  the 
Navy  was  accepted  by  D.  Appleton  &  Company  and  was  published  in 
the  following  year  in  two  volumes.  It  became  an  immediate  success. 
A  second  edition  was  brought  out  in  1898  and  in  the  same  year  ap 
peared  Maclay's  Reminiscences  of  the  Old  Navy,  published  by  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons.  In  the  following  year  D.  Appleton  &  Company  pub 
lished  Maclay's  History  of  American  Privateers,  uniform  with  his 
History  of  the  Navy. 

In  1901  appeared 
the  third  edition  of 
Maclay's  naval  history 
with  the  addition  of 
Vol.  Ill  covering  the 
Spanish-A  m  e  r  i  c  a  n 
War  and  in  1902  a 
second  edition  of  Vol. 
Ill  was  issued.  In 
1903  Maclay  published 
his  "  Life  and  Ad- 
ventures  of  Jack 
Philip,  Rear-Admiral, 
U.  S.  N.,"  and  in 
the  following  year 
"  Moses  Brown,  Cap 
tain,  U.  S.  N." 

Not  the  least  im 
portant  of  Mr.  Ma 
clay's  achievements, 
is  his  recent  dis 
covery  of  several  sea 
fights  in  the  Revolu 
tion  which  had  es 
caped,  for  more  than 
a  century,  all  official 

or  formal  historical  record.  Through  the  courtesy  of  Prof.  Alexander 
Anderson  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  and  of  Dr.  Hew 


OLD  FIELD  LIGHTHOUSE,  WHERE  MR. 
MACLAY  WROTE  MUCH  OF  HIS  HISTORY. 


213 


THE   STORY   OF   A   HISTORY. 


Morrison  of  the  Edinburgh  library  archives,  Mr.  Maclay  discovers 
documents  showing  that  hitherto  unrecorded  American  armed  crai 

had,  within  two  weeks,  in  Marcl: 
1/79,  attacked  four  of  th 
enemy's  vessels  in  the  Irish  Sec 
In  was  in  1895  that  Mr.  Ma 
clay  resigned  from  the  editoria 
staff  of  the  New  York  Tribun 
and  retired  into  a  lonely  light 
house  on  the  shores  of  Lons 
Island  Sound  (as  lighthous 
keeper)  in  order  to  concentrat 
his  literary  energy  on  his  fa 
vorite  theme.  Here,  surrounde< 
by  his  family,  he  remained  fiv 
years.  In  September,  1900,  h 
secured  a  transfer  to  a  clerkshi; 
in  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  11 
order  to  study  more  intimatel; 
the  men  and  ships  of  the  navy. 

On  December  23,  1893,  Mr 
Maclay  married  and  has  fou 
sons,  each  of  whom,  he  declares 
will  serve  in  the  navy.  "  As  thi 
personnel  of  the  navy  is  now  con 
stituted,"  he  said,  "with  th< 
chance  of  enlisted  men  for  pro 
motion  to  the  commissionec 
rank,  I  cannot  think  of  any  pro 
MR.  MACLAY'S  FOUR  SONS,  WHO  fession  or  mercantile  pursui 
ARE  "  PREPARING  "  FOR  that  offers  a  more  attractive 

THE  NAVY.  future  to  the  average  America! 

youth    of    refinement,    education 

and  good  family.  Even  if  the  young  man  does  not  make  it  his  lif< 
work,  a  four  years'  enlistment  in  our  navy  is  a  most  valuable  supple 
mental  education  for  the  high  school  or  college  graduate." 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 
GREENLAWN,  N.  Y.,  August,  1910. 


NAVY  BLUE  COMPANY 

GREENLAWN,  N.  Y. 


214 


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